Mistakes Were Made
by Lanca226
Summary: "This wasn't how it was supposed to go..." Two talented members of NLA's private military, BLADE, hear the complaints of a member of the Water Maintenance Group, and take her simple assignment hoping that it will advance their own ambitions. The mission ends in catastrophe, and the single survivor is pressed for answers. (Based on the side mission "Lakeside Getaway.")
1. Chapter 1

BLADE Tower - 1921 Hours

I don't wake up in the morning to tell myself that today's the day that my world's going to end. I wake myself up in the morning to get out of bed, get to work and do my job. Because frankly, my world already ended, in the most real and literal way possible when the Big Bad Xenos came and blew it up right in front of our faces. Ever since the Whale evacuated us off of Earth I dedicated my life to doing everything I can to preserve, protect, and prosper our tiny piece of the once Human Civilization. And until today, I've been pretty good at it.

I spent the last two years keeping myself trained, practicing diligence, researching on how to be a proper soldier, getting acclimated to life through a Mim, and working on maintaining the White Whale as we journeyed through space in search of a new home. We were all terrified. We felt way too exposed out here in the dark and cold, and after what happened on Earth, nobody knew what to expect anymore. It was only a matter of time before the Aliens came and turned us into dust. But the months passed, and it started to look like that once again our species was alone in the Universe. The Universe is a cruel place. I never forgot this, and while many of my crew mates grew soft and lazy thinking that our troubles were gone and good, I kept myself prepared, I kept my eyes on the stars. While everyone gradually settled into their comfy homes inside the West Coast styled Hab Unit near the ship's center, I remained vigilant. And as we ventured into the second year of our voyage we were attacked again. And only by some miracle on our part were we saved, as our ship was in fact destroyed in the Xenos' onslaught we happened to be within throwing distance of a Life Sustaining planet.

The Brass named it "Mira". A pretty name, for a very unforgiving world that seems to have it out for us. Now it was my time to shine. The old Military types immediately banded together to answer our city's needs. Yes, we have a city. That fancy Hab I mentioned survived the crash and now forms our species' last safe haven. Or at least it would be our last safe haven if we were actually here. You see, during our "Trek through the Stars" it was a unanimous decision to have us all operate in our Mimeosomes - artificial Human bodies that can perform just like the organic variety, but without the issue of being able to age. We could feel pain, we could eat, we could sleep, sweat, take a dump, have sex, get tattoos, and dress them up in silly outfits till we puke. Also we can puke. But this isn't "us". The real us is lying somewhere on this planet, waiting to be woken up again, and until the Lifehold is recovered we are in serious danger. That's where BLADE comes in. Our job, is to find that Lifehold, and protect our City from the Indigens and Hostile Xenos that inhabit this world. I'm a part of Pathfinder. the Division of elite BLADE operatives who's job is to explore this world, and to adapt to whatever threat we stumble across. Like I said, I'm pretty good at it. I've jumped rank these past two months and now I'm going through the selection process to join among those considered talented enough to pilot one of our few remaining Skells.

I am Xavier Moran, and until this morning, I was a distinguished BLADE Operative who served honorably. And now I'm sitting here in a dark corner, with a hole in my shoulder, with my chances of piloting a Skell in shambles, and a story to tell.

Soon, my interrogator will enter through that door to pry from me my recollection of Today's events.

...

Any minute now ...


	2. Chapter 2

**BLADE Tower - 1940 hrs**

Xavier broke out of his dull stupor in response to the sound of the door clinking open and took notice of his new Best Friend for the next hour.

 _Finally ..._

A Man in a Suit, in his late 30s, early 40s, walked into the room and addressed the BLADE sitting in the chair in front of the desk. There was no need to start of formal, the man knew. Doing so only took up valuable time, and he could already sense the tension surrounding this individual.

"Corporal Moran," he started with, "I can see that you are already recuperating in spite of that incredibly rash surgery you underwent. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Oh, how nice. You referred to by my rank, right off the bat. Everyone in BLADE, is soooo casual about the name thing." he said, half sneering.

"I can call you Xavier, if that is what you'll prefer." _Let's start again. "_ I am Dr. Lucius Leblanc, and I'll be taking your testimony of your experience today."

Xavier blinked.

"Doctor? I figured I'd be getting grilled by someone from up top. Why are you here?" Xavier asked, seeming a little confused and a little apprehensive. He wasn't sure how to respond to all this.

"Your superiors believed that it would be to your benefit to be questioned by someone who can provide a more subtle atmosphere as we take in your report.", the Doctor said. "I'm a psychiatrist you see, and considering the trauma you must have faced, we want to see if we can help you in any way through this procedure." He gave a small smile to indicate his kindness, and hoping it would help ease the tension he still felt.

It apparently didn't, as Xavier couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes and shifting in his seat. He folded his arms across his chest. _They sent me a shrink? Me?_ "Oh? That was nice of them. You can tell my Bosses that I'm fine. I'm ready to hit the field on a moments notice.", he said quickly. Then added, "though, I think that I should probably get my armed looked at, first."

"I noticed that", the Doctor interjected. "That's where they removed the egg, isn't it? Is it painful at all?" "Eggs. Plural, actually.", Xavier countered. "And no, they numbed me out so I can't actually feel anything in my shoulder and upper arm." He shook his wounded left arm to provide emphasis, then returned to the previous issue. "Like I said, I don't need counseling. I don't need to be medicated, and I don't need to have a professional heart-bleed to say 'how does that make you feel?' every five minutes." he stated. "I just need my arm fixed, and a new assignment."

"That's sounds excellent.", the Doctor said, deciding to hold against the obligations of a man of his occupation. "But first I need to hear from you the details of what occured at Biahno Lake."

Xavier shifted in his seat again. "I was answering a concern of one of the residents, and I took a small group down to investigate." he said slowly at first, but then picked himself up and said with more fortitude, "we showed up at the Plant, things got screwy, and now I'm here talking about it to a shrink." He looked Dr. Leblanc in the face. "Ya happy, Doc?"

"Xavier, you do realize that everyone at the plant is dead?" He asked tentatively. "That you are the only survivor that was recovered from that location?" He asked, somewhat worried at what he might hear. Xavier's sneer resurrected, "yeah, I kind of figured that when the only other guy who made it out exploded right in front of me." The sneer died again, and with a slight aggression in his voice Xavier continued, "you want to know all the grisly details of my buddy's death? Is that it? You want me to describe what emotions I was feeling as I watched his Mim get ripped apart from the inside out? How about you stop wasting my time and get this over with, Doc. Ask your questions."

The Doctor allowed a moment of pause to hang in the room. He then turned on his monitor and showed the BLADE that their conversation was being recorded and started with the first question he was tasked with asking.

"What caused you to arrive at the Biahno Water-Purification Plant?"

"I already told you, I was answering a residence's concern. Some Woman named Rosie."

 **NLA's Residential District - 0700 hrs - This Morning**

Xavier blasted awake and gave out a long groan as his sleep was disrupted by the loud shriek of the Alarm Clock he had set up on his Comm. Device that he always kept on his person. He fumbled with the small device and turned the alarm off. He layed on his mattress for a few more seconds before he literally rolled himself out of bed to start the new day.

He walked out of his room and entered the hallway. As he passed Dwayne's room, he gave two short pounds on his housemate's door. "Wakey-wakey, Chambers!" he said loudly in spite of his own sleepiness. "Got a big day ahead of us, doing who the heck knows, and ... yeah, stuff ..." _Just keep walking ... there's coffee awaiting._

He heard a quiet 'I hate you' coming from behind the door and took that as a sign that Dwayne Chambers was still alive. He arrived to the kitchen, and started up his morning dose of 'a cup o' Joe' and gave himself a bowl of Grain Mix and Milk. On Earth this would be called Cereal, but we're not on Earth are we? No, this food he was eating was an assortment of corn-based grains and junk that was grown here on planet Mira,which is strange because practically everything else that grows on this rock is out to kill him. _I guess it's an eat-or-be-eaten kind of thing,_ he thought to himself.

Dwayne entered and cooked himself a pack of something. It looked gray and boring, but Xavier guessed that was the kind of stuff he was into, because Dwayne eats it every other day. Some kind of protein solution that was designed to taste like bacon and eggs. Xavier would take real food any day. Or at least something that had the nutritional information on the package. He needed something a little more than the word 'FOOD' on plastic in order for him to put it in his mouth.

They finished eating, and after a few moments of getting some halfway decent clothes on and shaking the morning out of their heads they reached the front door. "You ready?" Xavier said. "Yep, you're going down." Dwayne responded. "Go!" On Xavier's go, they both took off running down the street as they raced each other on their Jogging route through the Neighborhood and down into central NLA.


	3. Chapter 3

**NLA's Residential District - Approaching Deliverance Park - 0728 hrs**

 _Just Breathe in. And Breathe Out. Don't think about the strain. Don't think about the guy hot on your heels. Just Breathe. Breathe. And Run._

"Hey!", gasped Dwayne, "you ready for my comeback?!"

Xavier blinked. _Jeez, this guy's playing banter? And he can't understand understand why he always loses these things?_ He then brushed off the voice of his friend at his back as he continued his pace. This was all part of the routine. Every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday Morning they would complete a 3 kilometer circuit around the Residential District, starting from their House in Ishmael Hills, east then around the Sport's Complex, then West past the Construction Yard, then North into the Park, only to swing around the Water Reserve, past the Cathedral, and back Home to get ready for whatever assignment they might have.

This was all on the condition that they were at the house at the same time for their scheduled Jogs. They were in separate Divisions in BLADE. With Xavier being in Pathfinder and Dwayne being a member of the Reclaimers. The two sects had a similar line of work; they go out into the unexplored Mira and find things. That being said, the difference was pretty intermediary as the Pathfinders often went out to chart out regions that they knew little to nothing about, while the Reclaimers job of recovering missing equipment and White Whale wreckage often meant that they went out to pick up the litter that someone else found. As Dwayne liked to put it, 'Pathfinding with a purpose.' Pathfinders and other teams go out and occasionally stumble upon Humanity's junk and mark the location on Frontier Nav for the Reclaimers to secure the area then perform an extraction, either by air lift or by hand.

Sounds boring until you realize that recovering the Lifehold is going to be on the Reclaimer Division. If BLADE could ever find it, that is. Xavier grinned a little at a protruding thought.

 _Pathfinders charge in. Reclaimers follow behind._ _Just like-_

His thoughts stopped short as he saw the form of Dwayne rushing past him. Between short breaths, "and Chambers takes first! We may have a new and handsome champion in the making folks!" He shouted as the two made their arrival into the shade of the large trees growing in Deliverance Park. His outburst caught the attention of two women walking nearby on the grass lawn. A _Whoo!_ could be heard from one of them, and Dwayne raised both his arms in response.

Xavier could picture the dumb-ass smile on his friend's face. He hadn't come behind Dwayne on one of these yet, and he wasn't going to start today. He picked up his pace to secure the lead once again and in retaliation, Dwayne resumed a more proper method of running and brought his arms down for the rhythmic swing.

 _Breathe. Breathe._

"COMEBACK!" shouted Dwayne. "Get it?! *pant* 'cause now you're at my back?!"

 _Oh screw this._

"Arghhh!", Xavier growled as he sprinted forward with all his might. "ON YOUR LEFT!" They were now shoulder to shoulder, but he didn't get past that as his friend stuck out his left arm in order to keep Xavier in Second place. Xavier tried to push Dwayne away from him, but Dwayne only laughed as he continued to keep him at bay.

It stopped being funny, however. Or at least it stopped being funny for Dwayne as, with a sharp smack and the sound of a chain fence clinking, he smacked into the fence surrounding the pool at the Water Purification Plant.

"Ohah! Bastard!" he said, cringingly, as he clutched his face. Dwayne had been keeping his eyes on Xavier and hadn't noticed that the two runners had made it to the Water Plant and that he happened to be running directly at the fence surrounding it until the last second, when he turned to look in front of him.

Xavier kept running a few more paces but decided to stop out of respect for his friend. If he was going to beat him, which he was, again, then he was going to do it sportsman like, and with dignity.

"You deserved it." he told Dwayne, with some mild concern.

"Yeah?", Dwayne replied. "Screw you." Xavier laughed at that.

 **BLADE Tower - 1944 hrs**

"Rosie?" asked Dr. Leblanc, tentatively.

"Yeah." Xavier said. "Me and Dwayne Chambers had been jogging past when we ran into this morning a little after 7:30." Xavier, opened nd and closed his mouth, thinking about what he was going to say. He moved his tongue across his teeth inside his mouth, to wet them. He still felt dry ... all over ... it was disgusting ...

The Doctor watched as the BLADE rubbed the brow of his head. "Please take your time." he said, "if you need anything just say it."

Xavier wanted water. Was that normal? Should he want water at all? When was the last time he had some water to drink? Was it this morning? Maybe he really is just thirsty. Could he risk it? Could he?

Xavier swallowed. He felt the scratchiness of a dry esophagus contracting.

"Can I get some water please?" he asked. "I think the physician said that it was okay for me to drink now."

The Doctor smiled, "yes, they informed me of that." He picked up a receiver on his desk and spoke into it. "Yes, hello. This is Doctor Leblanc, I'm in my office with Corporal Moran. Could we please get a pitcher of water and a glass here in my office, please?" A short pause. "I think that will be all for now, thank you." He set the receiver back on his desk and looked back at the BLADE. "It should be here shortly. Please, continue. You had just met Rosie down at the Plant?"

"Yes."

"Was this the first time that the two of you had met?"

"Yes"

"How did you feel about meeting her?"

"She was a bitch." Xavier said this bluntly.

The Doctor's smile twitched.

 **NLA's Water Purification Plant - 0731 hrs**

"What are you people DOING?!" came a shout that had turned into a scream.

Xavier looked in the direction of the noise, and saw a young, short, and quite furious woman approaching the two of them in a likewise furious manner.

"I am so sick in tired of you EFFING PEOPLE running around my plant like it's your own PERSONAL PLAYGROUND!" Xavier's ears were now ringing as they struggled to adjust to the inflection of volume in the woman's voice. He didn't know whether to feel annoyed at this woman for including in him in the joys of the female menstrual cycle or to feel amused at this woman's self-censoring with the word 'effing.'

He didn't feel like becoming acquainted to this woman so he tried to appease her with the classic saying of "uhhhh ... sorry. I guess?" in an attempt to dissuade the scenario.

"SORRY?!" she shouted, "NO! I have more than enough problems to deal with in my work life, and I don't need some sweaty degenerates treating the city's water supply like it's a punching bag!" Xavier could see some tears forming in this woman's eyes.

"Okay? Uhh ... what's your name Ma'am?"

"ROSIE!"

"Okay! Sheesh!", Xavier said, with one his arms lifted between he and her. "Calm down!"

"SHUT UP!" shouted Rosie. "I don't know who you are, but you're going to sit there and listen to me carp about my problems!" She stared up at Xavier like it was her business, and Xavier did not look away from his now new acquaintance. So he allowed himself a half-second to compose himself, for what was surely going to be his greatest workout of the day.

 _Just Breathe in. And Breathe Out._


	4. Chapter 4

**BLADE Tower - 1946 hrs**

"So, your first impression of Rosie wasn't favorable?" asked Dr. Leblanc.

A snort was born at that moment, as Xavier tried to correlate the expression "not favorable" with his experience with that woman. That woman. The one who put him in that horror show.

It was actually a little hilarious, Xavier thought to himself.

At the time, he would have accepted an emergency call, a freak accident, or a bolt of lightning striking him down, if it meant that it would cut his conversation with Rosie short. And now? After what had happened at the Lake? Xavier shook his head.

 _That was nothing ..._

"Like I said," answered Xavier. "She was a bitch."

 **NLA's Water Purification Plant - 0734 hrs**

Xavier exhaled, and allowed the circulation in his body to slow down, and to give him a chance to maintain what little composure there was left in this exchange.

Meanwhile, Dwayne was still trying to see if his face was still properly attached to his head (which it wasn't, but according to him it's been like that since birth). Which meant that Xavier would have to face this new foe on his own. So he stared Rosie down, to indicate that he wasn't to be intimidated by something as lame as a little girl throwing a fit. After all, he had seen things that actually were scary beyond the walls of NLA, out in the wild of Mira. Things that would eat this girl up before she could think to say "whoops".

But Holy Crap, she was annoying.

"I am very sorry, that you are having a tough time, Ma'am." Xavier said, "we didn't mean to disrupt your very busy activities, and we promise to not run by here anymore. Sorry."

Hoping that would be the end of it, Xavier gave a short wave and started making a quick retreat.

"Is there a problem here, Miss?" asked a now recovered Dwayne.

 _Nooooooo!_

"YES!" shouted Rosie. "And YOU, and ESPECIALLY YOU," she emphasized this, by pointing at a disgruntled Xavier "are going to listen to me as I talk about every God-forsaken problem that I'm going through right now!" Rosie was not giving up anytime soon it seemed.

"Alright, alright." Dwayne used his hands to make the 'calm down' motion. "But maybe you should try to calm down first?" Dwayne had a smile on his face that said that he found the situation funny, but somehow managed to make it come across as sympathetic. He was like that, Xavier thought. Dwayne had a lot more patience than him at least, and not always for the better. Which, Xavier felt, it was not at this moment.

Rosie retorted by saying, "Wha- ! I am calm!" She then blushed, and in a microscopically more dignified manner, she continued with, "I am as calm as I can be considering the situation." She looked away, and Xavier could have sworn that she was on the verge of crying right there. "I am just so freaking mad right now, at everything. My co-workers ... those idiots..."

Xavier sighed. This wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon. He attempted wedge himself in to Rosie's brief moment of composure.

"Lady, the faster you tell us all about your 'problems', the easier it's going to be for all of us t-"

"YOU SHUT YOUR FACE!" she screamed. Xavier leaned away to avoid the blast of sound, threatening his ears. "Yes ma'am!" _Jeez._

"His name's Xavier, by the way." said Dwayne, with a small smile on his face, as he attempted to steer Rosie back to the way of the inside voice. "Xavier Moran. You can call him Xavier 'Moron', though. Everyone does." Xavier appreciated the technique of using humor to defuse an altercation as much as the next guy, but that didn't stop him from mouthing the words 'screw you' while Dwayne was looking.

"And I'm Dwayne" he continued his introduction by sticking out his hand towards Rosie, to initiate a handshake. "Dwayne Chambers." He smiled but she just looked at his outstretched land like it had something gross on it.

Rosie didn't shake his hand, but she did return the favor by telling him her name.

"Nice to meet you, Rosie." He retrieved his hand and folded his arms, and returned to the subject. "What seems to be the problem?"

Rosie didn't say anything for a few seconds. She just stood there, looking at the space between her feet and Dwayne's. For a moment, it might have been possible to mistake her as feeling embarrassed. Then suddenly the frown on her face started to regain new life and it looked like she was about to explode again. But Dwayne was ready for that.

"Just stay focused now. You were talking about your friends, or co-workers? Go ahead and lay it on us. The Moron and I promise to stand by and lend a shoulder to your sorrows. Just don't forget to breathe."

Xavier stuck his middle finger out, which only received a shrug of Dwayne's shoulders in response. Rosie still looked mad, but it seemed like she had the sense to form words again.

"Right then. Deep breathe ... *huuuuuuuuff* And out... *pffeeeeeeewww*"

She closed her eyes for a moment then opened them again.

"Okay! Here we go!" And this is what she said.

"So my research team has been working on a water-purification facility in Biahno - outside the city - and we FIINAALY finished it. I know right? Party time, wooo! BUT! Party time cancelled, boooo! Because, then everyone had to move to out to the site ..."

She paused and ...

"AND THEY DIDN'T INVITE ME! And then! THEN! Then I hear this other girl on the team, Ajoa? She just got PROMOTED! How does that make sense?! It's discrimination! I would totally win if I sued them, right?"

She stopped, and then to herself you could hear her mumble, "I wonder if a lawyer made it onto the White Whale ..."

Xavier blinked, and tried his best not to cringe. He didn't really feel like getting shouted at again, so he continued listening t the woman's plight.

Dwayne took this moment to cut in and speed things along. "Sounds like they really threw you to the curb. Not fair at all." Xavier rolled his eyes. He could think of at least one good reason as to why she got left behind.

"I'm glad SOMEONE gets it!" Rosie exclaimed, eagerly taking in the support given by Dwayne. "This is a total travesty. It's the worst thing t happen to anyone in, like ... the last five YEARS!"

 _Not even close._ Xavier thought, then shook his head in disgust when he heard Rosie say, "... well except for Earth blowing up." He was getting really close to smacking this girl on the head.

"I'm sure Ajoa's "hard at work" right now, frolicking with Ian and the others on their happy little lakeside vacation. Probably tanning and swimming and ... uh ... eating chips. They don't even bother with their daily check-ins anymore! I haven't heard a decent report from them in like two days, just the usual automated update. THAT's how good of a time they're having! It's abuse of office and I WON'T STAND FOR IT!"

Xavier, looked up and spoke. "Wait a second. You haven't heard from these guys and their out in the field? Shouldn't you be a little more worried about their safety?"

"Oh please!", Rosie said dismissively. "I didn't even want to set up that stupid Facility! So when Ajoa decided to undermine me and get Ian to go along with it they all ditched me SO THEY COULD HAVE A LAKESIDE ESCAPADE WITHOUT ME! They're probably sitting their laughing at us all and enjoying the good life, on BLADE's credits no less!"

"Procedure states that anyone outside NLA who doesn't report their situation within Twenty-Four hours is to be considered MIA. You're friends are technically Missing in Action, and you're standing complaining about how bad things are for you?!"

"Have you been listening to anything that I've been saying? I TOLD YOU THAT-"

Both Rosie and Xavier covered their ears as Dwayne pinched his lip between his fingers and gave off a high pitched whistle, as a way to get them both to shut up.

"We'll take the job" Dwayne said, with a smile on his face.

"What job?" both Rosie and Xavier asked at the same time.

"We'll go check on your teammates for you. To see if they're truly MIA or not."

"What?!" said Rosie and Xavier, together again.

"This is provided you pay, of course. Each assignment or task that's given to BLADE requires a minimum payment of 1500 credits to the team which is due upon, but not before, the task has been completed. I'm sure this won't be a problem for you?"

"What?!" said Rosie. "You come charging into my working space and now you expect me to pay you for your troubles? Who do you think you are?!"

"We're BLADEs, Rosie. And this is what we do. Unless, you want to issue a formal request to BLADE yourself? Like the Moron said, you're friends are technically MIA, and it is your responsibility to make sure the word of their condition is up to date in the event something goes wrong." Dwayne paused to slap a bug that decided to land on the back of his neck. "Now, I'm sure that they're okay, just like you said. No harm done. But the guys at BLADE Tower?" he pointed up at the tallest building up in NLA's Administration District, "they have a thing against people placing unnecessary risks on others, and they might not be all that happy to hear your little story. Soooo ... we'll take the job, if you want"

Rosie scoffed.

"Okay, how about this? How about, you just assign us with the task of going over to Biahno Lake and giving your colleagues a nice kick in the pants?" Dwayne said. "From what you said they probably deserve it anyway. For only the small price of 1500 credits the two of us will run over and give them what they have coming."

A light in Rosie's eyes appeared as this new development reached her. She looked around to see if anyone was watching or listening. As it turned out, these two were not the first people that she had attempted to corral in, and in her previous attempts she had managed to drive everyone around away from her humble little Plant.

"You can do that?" she asked.

"Yes we can" Dwayne said, his smile never having left him.

"I'll pay you 20000 credits for something else. You go over there, and you catch them slacking. Video record them sleeping on the job and you can consider yourself paid. Feel free to be extra mean to them if you want."

Dwayne stuck his hand out again. "We have a deal?"

Rosie looked at his hand for the second time, only this time she shook it.

"Heck Yeah." she said, smiling for the first time.

 **BLADE Tower - 1949**

"So that's it then?" asked the Doctor.

"Yep. We met Rosie and then we took on a small assignment from her. We were to go down to the Reservoir at Biahno Lake and 'investigate' her colleagues." Xavier said with some difficulty. His throat was so parched right now.

"Dwayne and I ... we were undergoing the selection process to receive a Skell License. There's Eight exams, each set up by one of the Eight Divisions in BLADE. He saw this little task as a way to knock off the Mediator's exam."

"What does the Mediator's exam entail?"

"The applicant is to complete three 'missions' assigned by one of NLA's residents that involves working with or for NLA's population, as a way to maintain Harmony and Efficiency within city. We figured that acting as a liaison between two Research groups was a textbook Mediator task."

"I see."

Xavier blinked. "Does the bitch know?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Rosie! Does she know what happened?!" Xavier asked with his voice raised.

"... no one but you knows what happened at the plant Corporal."

"I need to be the one to tell her! Okay! It needs to come from me, first!"

"We'll see what we can do about that. But first, I need you to relax yourself."

"We shouldn't have taken this mission..."

"Don't think like that. None of what happened was your fault."

"... yeah ... yeah it was."

Xavier placed his head in his hand and propped his arm on his elbow.

The door clicked open again and an orderly with a pitcher of water and plastic cup walked in.

She placed the items on the desk in front of Xavier, and said, "Doctor she needs to speak with you. She's just outside the door right now."

Leblanc stood up and walked over to the doorway, but paused to let the orderly pass. Xavier and just stared at the pitcher now resting only half a meter away from where he sat. He could vaguely hear the Doctor speaking with someone outside the room and the sound of quiet footsteps. He sensed multiple presences standing outside the room he was in. But that didn't concern him in the least. He just stared at the clear and cold water in front of him, mesmerized by it. As if it were something alive.

"Xavier?" came the voice of the Doctor behind him.

"Huh? Yeah?" responded Xavier, without looking back.

"I need to step out for just a few minutes, but I'll return shortly. You just wait here, drink your water, and focus on relaxing. Alright?"

"Okay... bye"

The door closed behind him and he was alone once more. He could feel multiple footsteps.

Xavier smiled grimly. _They don't want him in the same room as me. Just in case ..._

He was thirsty.

He poured water into the cup, accidentally spilling some on his hand. The skin on his hand screamed at the sensation of the ice cold water touching him. But nothing else happened. Nothing yet, at least.

 _Screw you ..._

Xavier downed the whole glass in one gulp then set it back down on the desk.

Then he closed his eyes, and waited.


	5. Chapter 5

**NLA's Residential District - 0740 hrs**

"That went by a whole lot better than I thought it would." said Dwayne, sounding quite pleased with himself.

"What the hell was that, man?" asked Xavier, sounding quite exasperated with Dwayne.

"That, my dear Pathfinder, was me securing a Mediator type mission assignment for the two of us." Dwayne, extended his index finger out as if he was a teacher and it was a pointer. "An assignment, which upon completion, will take us that much closer to the two of us obtaining our Skell license." Dwayne looked at Xavier walking behind him. "Now's the time for you to thank me for being such a good buddy."

As a side effect of living in the same building as a BLADE Operative that was as diligent and hard headed as himself, Xavier found himself sharing the challenge of taking the BLADE Proficiency Exam for all Skell Pilot Candidates with Dwayne. They both pushed each other to do more, despite them being in separate divisions, and after two months of working tirelessly out in the field they both simultaneously, received the opportunity to take the exam, which had brought the two even closer together as they strived to match each other's regimen.

The two of them had already qualified for several of the exams, and only needed to take the exam issued by Harrier, Prospector, and of course Mediator.

Xavier had also already qualified for Curator's and Pathfinder's where Dwayne did not, and so they both formed their little two-man team as a way to get Dwayne up to speed. They were now training together and taking missions together, and after two weeks of grueling BLADE work, they now only had three more exams to take.

So, yeah. Good on him for staying on the ball, Xavier thought.

"So how do you you want to do this? Do you wanna do this just the two of us? Or should we snag two more hands for a full team?" Xavier asked.

"You know me. The more the merrier is what I always say, except with indigens."

Xavier could hear a rapid conversation occurring between an NLA resident and a Nopon, somewhere in the background. Was he going to have to deal with more people? This regimen he was on with Dwayne had thrown his schedule into the Bean Grounder, and he didn't know if anyone he was accustomed with were free for this morning.

But, he could always snoop around the Interceptor's hanger to see if Ora was laying around ...

"Fine", Xavier said, in agreement. "You find one, and I'll find one. We gear up and group up at Zero Nine hundred in position at the West Gate. Got it?"

"Yep! You want me to requisition a Buggy for this?"

"I doubt they're going to let us take a vehicle out on such a simple mission as this. I mean, Biahno Lake is like what, a couple hours away on foot?"

"I could always pay off one of those Bastards in the Commercial District, who're always driving their dumb cars in circles, to lend us their ride?"

"Heh."

"I'll get Roman if he's around. If not, then I'm sure I can convince Tammy or that one guy ... Hector or something? He likes to take weird ops, right?"

"H.B.? Don't bother with him man, just try Tammy or one of the girls."

"Oh? You thinking of getting funky with the ladies on our little Lakeside Getaway?"

"Dude ..."

"Does that mean you're going to try asking Ora out on this one? Taking her out on a date under the guise of it being a mission is a little bold, but maybe she's into that?"

"I'll see you at O Nine Hundred, Dwayne."

And then Xavier walked off giving a lazy wave to his friend.

 **BLADE Tower - 2003 hrs**

The sound of the door clinking, and then opening was heard again as Doctor Leblanc stepped into the room again and returned to his seat behind the desk. He smiled and said, "Hi, sorry for the wait." He pointed to the cup in Xavier's hand, "did you have your drink? Are you still thirsty?" he asked.

Xavier took a moment to stare at the palm of his empty hand. After finding nothing note worthy within the details of his flesh he turned his hand to face the Doctor. "I'm still here, Doc."

"I can see." the Doctor's smile widened.

He then started up the discussion again, "Please tell me what happened next."

Xavier frowned as he struggled to remember which part of his story they were at. They had just dealt with ...

"Rosie? ... uh ... after our deal was made with Rosie, we decided upon forming a Four man cell. The typical formation for assignments like this."

"This is how Operatives Roman Perkins and Terrence Hunt came to be involved?"

"Yeah... Something like that anyway."

 **NLA's Administration District - 0802 hrs - Interceptor's Hangar**

"What do you need, soldier?" Irina asked.

Xavier decided upon trying out Ora anyway. Mostly due to the fact that he didn't really know who else to go to. There were other reasons of course, but they didn't take any precedent. Or if they did then he definitely wasn't going to let them be shown now that he was in front of the Lieutenant in charge of Interceptor Division.

This was Irina Akulov. Probably the toughest BLADE there was in NLA, with a few very noteworthy exceptions. She was the head of multiple teams in Interceptor, and she was recognizable as being an actual member of those teams that respond to emergency situations outside of NLA. This woman would fly across the entire planet to engage in a dire situation, and she was known for maintaining close relations with her subordinates, only driving them forward when they were needed.

She was respected by virtually everyone who knew her. That being said, it wasn't a secret that she had a low tolerance for degeneracy in some of her fellow BLADE members. Especially in the men. And while he was pretty sure that the Lieutenant didn't remember who he was, he was sure that if she did that he wasn't high on her approval list.

 _Baby Steps._

Xavier saluted. "Lieutenant Akulov, sorry for intruding."

"At ease, and you're actually supposed to start with that." Irina wasn't smiling, but her comment came off as more of a joke than an actual criticism. Maybe this would go well after all.

"Yes Ma'am, sorry Ma'am. My team has just been assigned a mission outside of New LA, and we're short handed. I just came by to see if Interceptor had any willing recruits that'd be interested in taking a simple task with us."

"We're all short-handed." she said And yet you decided to come here. This division has the highest Mission rate in all of BLADE. Did you really think that you could just waltz in here and bag one of us, or did you have someone specific in mind?" Irina was sounding less and less pleased.

Xavier cringed in anticipation of what was to come.

"Is, um." He gulped. "Is an Ora Carr around here, by any chance?"

One second of silence passed. And then Irina tilted her head with a surly expression on her face.

"Ohoh! I remember you now! You're Ora's asshole of an ex-boyfriend aren't you?" Irina said in triumph. And not the good kind of triumph with confetti and a trophy, but the deadly kind of triumph that involves blackmail and bloodshed.

"I didn't get around to saying this the last time, but I don't want to see you around here anymore. You're a hindrance to my team, and you are unneeded baggage in Ora's life. Get out of here and don't let me see you again." Irina said with a huff.

Xavier lowered his head in defeat and shame, and said as he turned to leave. "Yeah, okay. I'll just head out then .."

"Is what I'd like to say at least." he heard Irina say.

Xavier turned back to face the Lieutenant, now confused and a little hopeful at what she might have to say.

"Luckily for you, she has a very kind personality and told me to let you off easy." Irina said.

Xavier blinked. "Wha ..?"

"It's no business of mine to decide who my teammates decide to associate with in their personal life, so I decided to respect her wishes. You'll find her in the barracks in the back." Irina pointed behind her towards the doors leading deeper into the hangar. "But for the record. She is currently off her shift and she does have the right to say no to whatever request you may have in stock. And if you try to coerce her in any way, I promise to show you a new side of Hell that will make you beg for the old one. Got it?"

"Um, yes Ma'am. Lieutenant, sir. Ma'am! Ma'am. Yes. Ahem"

Xavier was sweating.

"Good" said Irina. "You have a nice day."

She then walked over to another group of BLADEs near an open shipping container and joined in another conversation, leaving Xavier to his own devices.

 _Better than Rosie, though ..._


	6. Chapter 6

**BLADE Tower - 2004 hrs**

"How did you come across Perkins and Hunt?", the Doctor asked. "Did you know them beforehand? Did you use them as Scouts for your team commonly?"

"Roman Perkins," Xavier started, "guy was a Curator. But he had a bit of a habit of wandering away from the group whenever they went out. It got him in trouble a few times, until he actually started getting stuff done, so his Division mostly left him alone. He was one of those guys, who would ... hang around the hubs looking to hitchhike with a group going into the wildlands."

"So he's a friend of yours, then?" the Doctor nodded, and began typing something into his monitor.

Xavier took a moment to process the Doctor's use of the present tense. On a technicality, Xavier supposed, Roman was still alive. Asleep in the Lifehold. But it didn't really feel that way. You got used to feeling like these Mims are your actual bodies after a while. At first there was static, where your mind had to adjust to taking in sensations through a machine. Sensations that would then be transmitted from the Mimeosome to a receiver on the Lifehold, where the signal would then be taken into the implants in their Host brains. To which point the people in stasis would subconsciously respond and send output towards the Mim allowing it to react in near real time. It wasn't really any different then living as your own host. There's just a couple more steps between Sensation and Intake. But the tinniness of what you saw, felt, heard, and tasted, faded away with the vertigo of knowing that the real you is actually down the hall.

Except the Lifehold wasn't a short walk away anymore. It was lost on a Planet full of hungry indegens looking for an easy meal, and a bunch of angry Xenos that were actively demolishing any fragment of human civilization that they could find. Roman, Terrence, and Dwayne may as well be dead.

"Dwayne knew Roman, more than me." Xavier said. "I wouldn't really call him a friend. It's not like we exchanged emails or anything. It's just that the last couple of weeks have been a little hectic, and we've been going around Scouting other BLADE members. Roman was an easy Scout to recruit."

"Hmmm ..." Doctor Leblanc typed some more and flipped through documents on the screen. "You seem to get around Corporal." Xavier closed his eyes in frustration. "And how did Terrence Hunt come upon your group?" Xavier's eyes opened again, "Is he another Scout you preferred?" the Doctor asked.

"Terrence was just a guy I knew from Pathfinder." answered Xavier. "Back when we first touched down, there was a rush to get the beacons set up. When I enlisted in BLADE, I was assigned to the same group as Terrence. We were both on the same shift for Beacon duty. That was back when we just chucked them into the dirt. When we started using the drills, Pathfinder found a need to prioritize the Engineers from the grunts like me. I was transferred over into another unit, and I hadn't really seen him much since."

"And yet he accompanied you on your mission to the Lake."

Xavier shrugged. "I ran into him."

"Was this at the Interceptor's quarters?"

Xavier paused. "... no. I met him near Armory Alley, nearby."

"Oh." The Doctor read something on his screen again. "The system's biometric surveillance has you logged in visiting the Interceptor's Hangar. Why did you stop by there?"

Xavier's eyes flicked away from the Doctor's face. "It doesn't matter." he said quietly.

Doctor Leblanc looked at the BLADE for a moment. He never looked forward to when patients resorted to repressing their experiences. "If anyone else has information about what occurred on your mission, it could help with the investigation. And it may relieve you of some of your testimony." He added.

Xavier shifted in his seat. "I went ... it doesn't matter. She probably hasn't even gotten word of the incident." _She was off-duty after all,_ Xavier thought.

"She?" the Doctor inquired.

"It doesn't ..." Xavier sighed and rubbed his brow. _It really doesn't matter at all._ "I went to Interceptor in an attempt to recruit Operative Ora Carr." he said straightforwardly. "She said no, I moved on, and that's when I walked into Terrence."

"How did you know Operative Carr?"

"Oh for the love of God, man." Xavier said. He rolled his eyes. "We were involved with each other for a while. I'm familiar with her, she's familiar with me, which made her one of my first choices for recruitment, and that's it. She has nothing to do with this."

"I see." The Doctor once again typed something onto his monitor.

"What was that?"

The Doctor looked at Xavier again. "What was what?"

 _I hate it when people do this ..._

"Did you just type something about my relationship with Carr?"

"Yes, I did. Perhaps we should continue on -"

"Why? I just told you she doesn't have anything to do with this."

"Corporal, I think that we should con-"

Xavier slammed the desk with his fist.

"STOP CALLING ME CORPORAL, DAMMIT!"

The shout from Xavier disappeared into the silence as quickly as it had arrived. If the Doctor felt threatened or angered by his outburst he didn't let it show on his face, except for a faint hint of sadness as he gazed at the BLADE sitting in front of him.

Xavier's fist relaxed as he took a deep breath and leaned back into his chair. Shame crept forth into his mind. He broke. Even if it was only for a moment, he still broke, which told him that he could break. Which told that one day he will break again. Now it was time for the shrink to tell him the bad news. He was mentally unsound.

He looked at the Psychiatrist with a small frown and asked, "Well? You gonna say it?"

Doctor Leblanc, took a deep breathe of his own, and with a small smile said. "Tell me your story, Xavier."

Xavier let the suggestion saturate over him, as he looked up and stared at the ceiling, wondering what he should say. A minute passed him by as he allowed himself to relax, and finally he spoke.

"... after I left the Interceptors' Hangar, I decided to head further down intot the Administration District. That's when I saw Terrence."

 **NLA's Administration District - 0817 hrs**

So it wasn't the best morning on Mira, in Xavier's humblest opinion, as he tried to shake off his last conversation with another disgruntled woman. Although, unlike with Rosie, he was at least confident that Ora wouldn't perforate his ear drums. But he still couldn't satisfy himself with the results, seeing as though Ora had denied his request for assistance and had brought up his various character flaws in a counter to his attempt at further persuasion.

A part of him felt happy to speak with Ora. But that happiness was shaded wit feelings of remorse and regret at the reminder of their relationship's current state.

 _Oh well. Time to go fishing._

And right there was the first Fish of the day. A humble trout, just woken up from the night's slumber, and now swimming up river to feed.

Of course by Trout, he meant Terrence, and by river he meant Armory Alley.

Xavier hadn't seen, spoken to, or even really thought about Terrence since Pathfinder's early work in establishing the Frontier Nav. He wasn't sure how pleased his old colleague would be at the first interaction with an old acquaintance being a favor asked, but there wasn't any harm in trying as long as you hadn't slept with them before. Ha ha ha. LOL. Xavier is funny, now let's go do this already.

"Yo yo!" said Xavier going for the casual approach.

He got not no response as Terrence wass facing the other direction from Xavier, and the buzz of the surrounding populace made it difficult for the unassuming man to distinguish his own address from the rest of the chatter he was hearing.

Xavier tried again, only a little more direct.

"Yo Terrence!" shouted Xavier, cupping his mouth.

This time he did get his attention as Terrence turned at the sound of his own name being spoken.

"Uhh ... hi." he said.

 _Isn't he great?_ Xavier thought.

"You remember me? Xavier? We were on Charlie team, after the crash?" inquired Xavier.

Terrence tilted his head for a moment then with an expression of realization and some awkwardness he spoke. "Oh, yeah. Hi. Long time no see." He then stood there waiting for a conversation to magically happen.

Xavier was feeling the sense of awkwardness on his end as well. "Nice day we're having." he said, wishing he hadn't.

Terrence looked up at the graying morning sky, "it looks like it might rain."

"Ah, yeah. I guess it does..."

"Yeah."

A horrifying five seconds passed with no words between the two being said before Xavier decided to cast his net.

"You doing anything today?"

"Ah, no. Not really. I've actually been having some trouble finding work. My team's basically done filling out our sector in Eastern Primordia, and the work load has been dwindling away on me. Especially since everyone knows how to activate and plant the beacons now."

 _Score_

"Oh well, that's quite a coincidence! I just happen to have an open slot for a little mission that me and a few others are performing. We could always use another Pathfinder, and it'd give a chance for the two of us the catch up just like old times."

"What like a freelance assignment?"

"Yep."

"I don't think you'll want me along for that. I don't really do wet work, or combat."

"No, no, no, no. It's just a simple go over there and say hi kind of mission."

"Where?"

"The Water Reservoir they just set up by Biahno Lake."

"What's the objective."

"We're just going to go over there and check on things. The likelihood of combat is low."

"... I don't know, maybe you should try someone else? That survivor Elma's Team picked up last month has been knocking out missions left and right."

"Yeah, but I don't know them. I know you."

"..."

"The pay's high."

"... when do you need me?"

"We're meeting at the West Gate at Zero Nine Hundred. Bring your gear and a Light Kit, ad whatever else you think you'll need."

"And there'll be no combat?"

"It's going to be a cakewalk. Trust me."


	7. Chapter 7

**BLADE Tower - 2009 hrs**

"So that's how I met Terrence. After some minor pleasentries we agreed to meet up at at the West Gate at around nine this morning. You keeping up Doc?"

"I think I got it." Doctor Leblanc said. "Please continue on."

Xavier inhaled slightly. It looked like he wouldn't have to go into any further detail about his exchange with Ora Carr. Good, he thought. It was all meaningless anyway.

"We then parted ways, and I headed off to my Barracks to kit up."

 **NLA's Administrative District - 0828 hrs - Pathfinder Barracks**

Xavier slipped out of his Tee Shirt and Shorts, and opened up the locker assigned to him. Inside he took a quick inventory of the various Armored Wear, Boots, and Gear, laying in wait to be used. "Hello darlings", he said, looking at his few but fair weapons he had clipped into the back of the Locker.

He only needed something light, for a mission like this. So he took out a nearly weightless but sturdy coat that was wired with miniature circuits in the fabric, and vein like vents on the outside that would allow his to manipulate ether outside of his body. He also grabbed a pair of thick pants that were comfortable enough to wear and provide some minimal protection to his legs. Not wanting to leave NLA completely exposed he slapped on a pair of Guards that covered up his forearms, as well as a pair of knee high ceramic plated boots, that would ensure that his limbs wouldn't take to much abuse. And for the pièce de résistance, he took out his large Blast Cannon. Unlike the typical assault rifle, the blast cannon took in a battery pack concentrated with ether energy, where it was chambered with specialized rounds next to an electromagnet, allowing him to rail gun out very fast and very heavy single shot rounds. He lost speed with it, but he gained a lot of force with it.

And of course, something to put in his hands. He garnered one of two large combat knifes, and finally settled on a Xeno based knife with a slender blade. It was smaller than the large Human made knives that he was accustomed to, but it was also a lot lighter. Xavier liked it and it served its purpose, so he didn't complained. He notched the knife onto a harness strapping his hips, and latched the gun onto a mechanized frame on his back that allowed him to swing the large weapon over his shoulder.

Xavier looked into a nearby mirror to see if everything was ready. He smiled at his armed appearance.

 _Show time_

 **Near NLA's West Gate - 0848 hrs**

More hustle and bustle, he arrived at the convention of BLADE operatives and Maintenance personnel that were almost constantly gathered around the area leading up to one of two of main openings leading into and out of NLA. Back when the White Whale was still in working condition, this "gate" was the Habitat Unit's Port side docking chamber, connecting the Hab to the rest of the ship. But after the Hab detached during the crash, it touched down on the Southern Coast of Primordia. The dust settled, the Top Brass figured we needed easy access to the planet, and now it's a gate.

Xavier heard that infuriatingly loud whistle for the second time that morning and looked over to see his partner, Dwayne, sitting lazily on a stair case leading up to an elevated platform. And sitting next to him was ...

"Hey Xavier, look!" he said picking up his bench mate's arm and waving it on his behalf. "I found Roman after all! How about that?"

Roman Perkins had an amused look on his face as Dwayne shook his arm like a flag at a rally event. "What's up?" he said to Xavier, who in response answered "Hey."

"I brought mine. Where's yours?" Dwayne asked.

Xavier couldn't help noticing that Dwayne was still wearing the same outfit he had on this morning. The only addition was that we was now wearing a standard issue harness and frame that allowed him to carry a small pack and his Sub Machine guns. Meanwhile, Roman actually looked like he had a purpose in life as he was wearing the typical but effective BLADE standard garments.

"He'll be here?", Xavier answered. "What about you? Are we going to be picking up the pieces of your body as you get ripped to shreds out there?"

"Who made you my Doctor? Also, ' _he'?!_ " Dwayne said. "What happened to bringing along a chick?!"

"Sorry. I figured you would be bringing Tammy and that she'd be bringing in all her friends so we could form that harem you're always talking about."

"Ora shot you down, huh?"

Xavier had nothing to say to that.

"It looks like he has nothing to say to that." Roman observed.

"Shut up, Roman." Xavier said.

"If you want, I could pretend to be a woman if you prefer. I don't know who this Ora person is, but I think I can gauge your interests."

"Nah, Xavier only likes women whose hobbies don't consist of dissecting everything with a pulse." Dwayne pointed out.

"Oy." Xavier said. "Why'd you bring this guy? I'm pretty sure Tammy actually is available right now."

"I ran into him first." Dwayne shrugged.

"In life that's often the only thing that matters." Roman said.

 _Ugh_

Nobody hung around Roman for long, which is why he always seemed willing and able to jump on a random assignment on the turn of a moment. He wasn't really part of any group, which made him the perfect Scout for Dwayne and Xavier's missions. Or at least he would be perfect if it weren't for his obsession with the working nature of life, and his method of understanding that nature by killing it, cutting it open, and taking samples of it's fluids and organs. The guy was a living red flag, and if it was't for all the goodies and logs he brought back home with him, Xavier felt that BLADE HQ probably would have assigned him to the deepest darkest part of Noctilum a long time ago. The crazy thing is, is that Roman would probably do exactly that if, in his own words, it wasn't so difficult to test an Indigen's cellular pH value out in the field.

The guy gave him the creeps.

And just in time came the sound of Terrence Hunt calling out to him. He looked over and spotted his fellow Pathfinder maneuvering his way through a group of workers that seemed to have taken a great interest in watching a Ma-non rummaging in the engine block of one of the semi trucks. Xavier beckoned Terrence over and, with the four members of the team gathered, Xavier got down to business.

"Okay, we're all here. Terrence, this is Dwayne and Roman. Roman and Dwayne, this is Terrence." he said with a tedious air in his voice.

"The op that we've taken is a simple survey of the newly assembled Water Reservoir at Biahno Lake. The group assigned there haven't been good on their contact with our Client, Rosie, and we have the honor of going over there and getting them back up to speed."

"How long have they been out of contact?" asked Roman.

"Today is going to be their third day, and yes we're already aware that this technically makes them missing in action. But the client insists that they are simply neglecting their daily logs."

"Why hasn't BLADE HQ been informed of this, if they're MIA?" asked Terrence with a sound of concern in his voice.

"Because Rosie is an idiot." Xavier said feeling exasperated at even thinking about that woman again. "Anything else? Dwayne, ping us the mission details. "

"Uhhh ... oh crap. I think I left my comm in my other pants." Dwayne said patting his pockets.

Xavier was about to say something loud and obscene in retaliation, then with a grin on his face at seeing his friend's strained expression Dwayne quickly said, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I got it right here!" He then forwarded the information to Roman and Xavier's devices who then sent it to Terrence's.

Terrence's eyes scanned the holographic screen on his comm device. "She's paying us 20,000 credits for this?!" he exclaimed.

"Told you it payed well." Xavier said, patting Terrence's arm. "We all good to go?" he asked.

They then set off into Primordia's wilderness.

They first traveled down the Beaten path that led out from NLA's Western Gate, where a steady amount of traffic of BLADE Operatives on assignment had trampled over the plains to the city's west. They then moved up into the Highlands, attempting to avoid any hostile indigens in the area. Despite the negative outlook that Xavier had on life here on Mira, he still couldn't help but admire the beauty of this planet. If it wasn't the green and tame grasslands that seemed to make up most of the continent of Primordia, it was the massive rock structures that jutted out of the landscape in bizarre intervals, all overshadowed by a massive abomination of a structure that resembled the talon of a giant beast. On a clear day, this would all be complimented by the blue skies that reminded him so much of Earth. But instead he had to settle with a slight overcast making it's assault on the heavens.

They moved Northwards towards Biahno lake, on the way they went through the usual ritual of hiker's chit-chat which allowed Dwayne to size Terrence up, and for Terrence to decide whether or not Dwayne and Roman were decent human beings. The talking died away after the first hour, and out of boredom Dwayne decided to occupy the silence in the group with his rendition of _Trick Me Out_ by Needletone, all accompanied by his attempt at the air guitar.

Around Noon, after two and a half hours of walking they arrived upon the Facility. And they did not like what they saw.

"What in the hell?"

 **BLADE Tower - 2015 hrs**

Xavier paused. Not knowing what to say next.

"So the four of you arrived at the Plant. What happened next?" the Doctor asked.

Xavier, looked down at the desk in front of him, trying to find a resolution in his recollection, as a quagmire of thoughts and emotions tumbled and twirled inside his mind.

"What the hell happened ...?" Xavier asked himself.


	8. Chapter 8

**Biahno Water-Purification Plant - 1216 hrs**

The team paused at the entry point leading into the entry point leading into the large facility, and marveled at what they saw.

Ever since the crash, NLA has had to deal with a dangerous shortage of water, with the majority of their supply being located within the main hull of the White Whale, which was lost. The Habitat Unit that now provides them a home already had its own irrigation system up and running during the two years the crew spent working on it, and when it separated from the ship the 'residents' as they were now called had a sustainable amount of water to survive off of.

But this Water supply was inconsiderable compared to the millions of liters that was provided by The Whale, and everyone whose job it was to worry about it worried greatly. Their was a chance that we would die of thirst. Of course it wasn't all bad. Take one look at this planet and you can see that life is very much possible on Mira, so one of the first tasks that was completed was in determining whether or not we could survive off of Miran Water. The answer was no. The water surveyed in Primordia was found in great quantities but, to the researchers' dismay, it was found to be contaminated with an unknown and potentially lethal bacteria. NLA would either be forced to make do with the little Earth-based Water they had, or find a way to purify the water in the field. And with the arrival of many Nomadic Nopon sampling the bounties of the Human Race, and a small group of incredibly voracious Ma-non, they quickly leaned towards the idea of building a facility outside of NLA.

Through the combined efforts of multiple engineering teams as well as assistance from BLADE, they were able to set up the main building that would house the Research team's computer equipment as well as themselves in a matter of days. After they set up shop, they went through the arduous task of setting up a kind of pool area going into Biahno Lake, with high walls to keep a somewhat isolated and controllable reservoir of water. The team then installed multiple filters into the pool that would draw in the water from Biahno Lake, then super-boil it in order to kill the bacteria. This purified water would then be contained into the reservoir and shifted into smaller units for transport, providing NLA with a limitless supply of Water.

It was indeed an impressive undertaking. But it wasn't the big shiny facility that caught their attention. It was the collection of large organic pods that were scattered all throughout the entry area leading into it. "What in the Hell?" Xavier said quietly.

"Okay, yeah. That's kind of weird." Dwayne said in agreement.

Roman, not being easily deterred at the prospect of discovering a new form of life cautiously approached one of the pods closer to the group. "These remind me of a Spider's Egg Sac..." he noted. "Do not touch it, Roman. We don't know what these things are." said Xavier. "Of course. I'm simply making an observation." Roman replied. He then placed the palm of his hand onto the surface of the Pod's shell.

"Dude!" exclaimed Xavier.

"Oh." Roman's hand shot off in surprise. "I'm sorry, I forgot."

"Guys, look." Terrence pointed toward the facility's large doorway. On either side of the door, a red holographic icon of the word EMERGENCY was flashing to indicate that something was very wrong at the plant. Xavier and the rest were very familiar with this. On The White Whale, the crew were occasionally subjected to drills to train in the event of the ship undergoing critical failure. And just a few months ago, they all experienced the real thing, so it was no wonder as to why the sight of these red letters flashing before their eyes got their hearts racing.

"Our client said that this group has been out of contact for two days?" Roman asked.

Xavier clicked his tongue. "Yeah ..." He pulled out his Blast Cannon, and the rest of the team followed by pulling out their own weapons.

"I don't like these sacs, man." Dwayne said.

"What do you want to do about it?" Xavier asked.

"I don't know, smash them?"

Terrence pitched in. "Maybe we should fall back."

Then Roman. "I'm not sure 'smashing them' is such a good idea. For all we know they could be containing a poisonous gas."

"I thought you said these were spider eggs, man!" Dwayne said.

"I said they _remind_ me of a Spider's Egg Sac. It was only conjuncture on my part."

"I _hate_ spiders!"

"We need to get out of here ..." Terrence groaned.

"Everyone shut up!" hissed Xavier.

While they had been talking Xavier had taken notice of one of the larger pods, and now that he had gotten their attention they all took note of it. It was twitching, almost like the pulse of a heartbeat, and every now and then it would slightly rock where it stood.

They all stared at the pod momentarily, and waited for something to happen, but after a few seconds it subsided and returned to its rest.

"It seems to respond to sound." Roman whispered.

"Very good, Roman. Shut up." Xavier whispered back.

But all was not quiet, as Xavier could hear Terrence breathing heavily.

"Terrence?" Xavier asked.

Terrence was shivering, and he gripped his shield tightly as his eyes darted back and forth from Pod to Pod. He was about to have a panic attack right here in the middle of this mess, and then who knew what would happen then.

"Terrence, I need you to stay calm." Xavier said.

Terrence closed his eyes, and Xavier could see that he was praying underneath his breath to whatever god would listen to his fears. Dwayne stepped forward and gripped Terrence's shoulder, giving him a brief massage. "Hey buddy, you're all right, man." Dwayne consoled. "You're okay. Everything's going to be okay, okay?"

Terrence gasped out words. "I need to leave, we need to leave, we should not be here."

"Hey, hey, hey. Look at me. Look at me." Dwayne cupped Terrence's face in his hands and stood directly in front of him. When it looked like Terrence was about to have a fit, Dwayne told him to look at him a little more firmly. "Look at my face, man. Look right at me."

Terrence finally composed himslef long enough to look right into Dwayne's eyes.

"You are going to be fine. We are all going to be just fine, okay" Dwayne said. "Say, 'Everything is going to be okay.'"

Terrence looked like he was on the verge of tears now. But even so, he said "everything is going to be okay."

"Yeah. Good job, man. You're doing a good job." Dwayne smiled and patted Terrence's shoulders.

"Everything is going to be okay." Terrence repeated.

"That's right, and don't forget it. Don't you make me sing the freakin' song, man." Dwayne.

Xavier couldn't help but admire his friend at the moment. Usually Dwayne was a bit of a bastard. But when it came down to it he knew how to take care of those around him. How to keep people moving forward.

But this situation with Terrence was ridiculous. He was going to be very fine, in fact, all because of the fact that his actual mortal body was in fact laying in wait, while the thing that was sweating and fussing about here at the Biahno Water-Purification Plant was an expendable machine, which if destroyed would result in Terrence taking a really long nap. He should know better than to panic, Xavier thought to himself.

"What should we do?" Roman asked Xavier quietly. "Shall we indeed fall back? Or do we investigate the facility?"

Xavier paused as he took in their predicament. They came here on an assignment to take a quick survey of the Plant's Research Team on Staff, and it had somehow turned into a potentially dangerous scenario that required them to make a tactical decision. This really was a crummy day, Xavier mused.

He looked at Dwayne who was also waiting for a response to Roman's question. Typically, when they went on mission together they often took turns delegating the role of decision maker over to the other as way to keep things fresh in a usually simple follow-through of BLADE procedure and protocol. However, in times like this where the situation was unclear, Dwayne would often look to Xavier's experience as a Pathfinder to determine what was the best method of approach.

And in most circumstances? Xavier would've been fine with moving forward into the unknown, because when it came down to it he knew that both he and Dwayne could handle anything they came across. Or at least manage to live long enough to run away. But it wasn't just Dwayne he had to think about. Roman wasn't exactly the best team player around, although Xavier was sure that he'd be fine with exploring the Mysterious Water Plant infested with Giant Evil Egg Spiders. But the real concern was with Terrence. What the hell was Xavier thinking, bringing a guy he barely knew on this mission? Xavier got cocky he told himself. You make mistakes when you're cocky, and now he was paying for that mistake. He saw this as a simple Mediator style mission, and didn't even bother to consider the big 'what if' until it hit him in the face. The real decision, Xavier thought, was to take the risk of dragging Terrence into a possibly hostile scene, or avoid the risk and retreat.

With a look, Xavier projected his feeling about Terrence towards Dwayne, who interpreted just fine. They knew how to read eachother, and Dwayne understood the danger that they were faced with. And while he was rubbing Terrence's back and giving him an encouraging smile, he returned Xavier's concerns with a microscopic shake of his head. It was barely a twitch in Dwayne's neck, but Xavier understood his opinion on the subject. They could not take Terrence in any further.

 _Dammit_

Xavier looked back to Roman and answered. "I'm calling this in."

Roman blinked. He wasn't pleased with the decision, but he was not surprised either. He simply said, "Understood."

Xavier set his weapon aside and took his Comm Device out of his pouch. _I cannot believe I'm going to be the Pathfinder that handed a Recon mission over to Emergency Response._ He switched the device on and waited for it to establish a transmission feed.

Like the archaic walkie-talkie before it, these Communication Devices produced short range radio frequency for another to receive. In order to overcome their limitations, BLADE set up multiple Base Camps all over Mira as a way to maintain a network to monitor the the beacons placed across the lands and to boost any outgoing signals from the comm devices carried by operatives. Imagine Xavier's surprise, then, when the screen on his device showed him that there were no Transmitters within the local area, and it advised him to change to a more favorable position.

"Uhh ..."

"No signal?" Roman asked.

"Oh God ..." Xavier said.

He just realized the problem. This facility would have more than likely been outfitted with its own transmitter, allowing it to communicate with NLA and nearby Base Camps. The fact that there was no transmission signal to be received means that the antennae that allowed it to broadcast its own signal was no longer operating. Which explained the lack of communication from the Plant.

 _Rosie you idiot ..._

They had been lead to believe that the Research Team stationed here were neglecting their responsibilities, but in reality amidst an attack from a hostile indigen population they simply lost the ability to call for help.

They could still be inside, Xavier thought. They could be fending for their lives right this moment and they would have no way to know. Xavier looked over at Terrence who though calmer than before still seemed to be in an alert state of mind. He then looked at the doorway, still showing EMERGENCY in red, wondering what nightmares could be occurring on the other side.

He couldn't abandon this place, but he needed to deal with Terrence. He and Dwayne would stay behind, and Roman would take Terrence to the nearest Base Camp. This was the best way to handle the situation.

"Okay, here's what needs to happen, and it needs to happen quietly." Xavier whispered.

All that caution shattered immediately, when the dull sound of fists pounding from the inside of the doorway came along with the loud voice of a woman.

"Is someone out there?!" the woman shouted.

Terrence inhaled sharply, with a hiss.

"Please! Anyone! I need help!"

And between the sounds of the woman's fists pounding against the door, the same Pod from before pulsed, and pulsed, like a giant heart throbbing about.

"Aw, hell ..." Dwayne said, pulling out his swords.

Almost as if it responded to a challenge being made by Dwayne, two humongous arms smashed through the shell of the pod, and from within a dark beast that Xavier had never seen before tore its way out of the pod in an aggressive manner unbecoming of a newborn.

With small beady eyes, it glared at the group, and opened its toothless mouth as it roared at them and began charging at them, whilst still carrying parts of the pod on its body.

There was no helping it now, Xavier thought. The four of them were going in.

 _Dammit ..._


	9. Chapter 9

**BLADE Tower - 2020 hrs**

Xavier sat in his seat silently, having not said a word in nearly five minutes.

His brain kept going over the details of the gruesome event that he endured and apparently survived. Only apparently, however, for Xavier didn't anything more than dead on the inside. No human being is born to experience such a primal fear as the kind one feels when in the presence of a killer that you couldn't fight back against.

Images of gore flashed behind his eyes.

The sounds of men yelling in pain.

Even the smell ... he couldn't seem to forget about the smell those things made.

And all this was kept alive by the overwhelming sense of guilt and despair when he thought about how he had failed Dwayne, Roman, and Terrence. And he couldn't escape the thought that the last thing that they experienced was the sensation of their minds and bodies falling apart from the inside.

... he wasn't even able to save Ajoa.

Xavier felt so angry. At himself. At everything.

"What should I say, Doc?" Xavier asked.

Doctor Leblanc had been staring at Xavier for the time that he'd been silent, counting the seconds by. And now it seemed that he was ready to open up and continue.

"You should say, what you want to say." the Doctor answered, trying to sound as sympathetic as the situation allowed. "But we will need your testimony. If not now, then later."

Xavier looked up, with a small feeling of apprehension building up at the thought of continuing this session longer than needed.

 _It was a mission gone wrong. Report. Breathe. Report. What lead to the failure. Report._

Xavier inhaled and exhaled, and felt a coolness come across his chest.

"We arrived upon the Plant. And upon arrival we immediately took notice of a series of Indigen based Pods scattered all across the entry way. Here, we as a team, decided to report the situation to Head Quarters, only to find that the Plant's transmission system had been sabotaged. At around that time we encountered Researcher Ajoa Byers."

Xavier gulped.

"We engaged the enemy."

"The Hostile Xenoforms you encountered?"

"Yes ..."

"What was the result of this engagement?"

"... hell."

 _Absolute Hell ..._

 **Biahno Water-Purification Plant - 1220 hrs**

The Beast charged in an awkward manner. Almost like an insect, it's approach was made in quick scurries that cause it to zig-zag forward. But it was fast, despite it's unorthodox mode of travel, and Xavier could already see that it was fast. And judging by its own body weight combined with its capable speed, it was undoubtedly very strong.

Xavier reached over his shoulder to pull out his Blast Cannon, and became startled when his hand fumbled around in empty air. With a start he remembered with frustration that he had set his gun down when he attempted to make the call. He quickly gazed at his weapon lying in the space between he and Roman's feet, but looked back at his adversary when he realized that he didn't have the choice of focusing on anything else. Being the closest one to the ruptured Pod, Xavier was the first to feel the force behind the creature's charge as it shoved him into the air.

Xavier hit the ground rolling and attempted to get back on his feet only to see that the beast wasn't finished with him. Its large primate-like hands were now gripping into into Xavier's flesh as he was forced to meet the creatures face. It had an expression that could almost be described as infuriated. It had six eyes, all of which were slanted like a character with an aggressive look to it. But in the creatures' eyes themselves, Xavier thought that he saw a great madness deep within the six dark pits. And he couldn't be blamed for feeling a tingle of fear as it opened its mouth wide. Where there should have been teeth, all Xavier could see were what seemed liked hardened gums with small indents, as if it were teething. But the gums themselves were also dark, like its eyes, with the only light seen coming from the drying saliva that spider-webbed inside.

Xavier was going to die soon, unless this thing died first. And as the beast's head stretched toward his own, Xavier saw the skin on its throat flap and expand, with its own breathing. The best way to defeat a physically superior opponent is to cripple them, and Xavier has never met a thing that could fight without the ability to breath.

With his left arm still free, Xavier unsheathed his knife from the strap on his leg and prepared to jam the blade directly into the Xeno's throat. And he might have done so as well, it it weren't for the reliability of Roman and his Javelin.

Being only the second closest to the ruptured Pod, Roman was not fortunate enough to be this unidentified life form's first human encounter. However, having not been tackled to the ground he was within the capacity of relieving Xavier of his burden.

Roman had pulled out his Javelin and charged up a field of Ether to increase its effectiveness, and moved to drive the beast off his teammate. "Huuoh!" he cried as he drove the spear into the monster's side and pushed, causing it to topple off of Xavier.

Still holding his Knife, Xavier couldn't help but feel a little miffed at being robbed of an easy kill, but gave a quick "thanks" nonetheless.

Roman nodded in acknowledgment, and continued his own assault. He flipped in the air and on his descent over the beast he let the Ether in his Weapon, the Strength of his Arms, and Gravity itself bring the point of his Javelin into its black, open mouth.

The Beast made a sickening guttural sound as it gargled on iron, and screamed whilst Roman hung on top of his Javelin like a Pole Vaulter in his peak.

It didn't allow itself to suffer for long as it responded returning to its own feet. Roman surprised, released his grip and fell away as he was swung off and away. With the two smaller of its four arms the creature yanked the Javelin out of its mouth and flung it aside. It then returned its gaze upon Xavier who stood there waiting for his opening.

The creature screamed and once again charged at Xavier.

"Aaaarrraaahhhh!" Xavier gave off a cry of his own and charged the beast himself, knife still in hand.

Just half a second before the two fighters made contact with one another, Xavier dropped, and from the force of the speed he slid on the sleek flooring right between the creature's legs.

The creature confused and even more enraged at being outmaneuvered by its prey, turned to sound of someone shouting "GRAND SLAM, BABY!". And as the beast turned to face the new voice, its face came into contact with a pair of swords carried by a fast moving Dwayne Chambers.

Xavier grinned at the success of Dwayne's strike. A simple maneuver. When one of the two had caught the aggravation of a Hostile Xeno, if the environment allowed it, the targeted BLADE member would slide underneath the attacking Xeno, and as it turned the one that had been escaping its attention would hit it right in its head.

They had called it the 'Grand Slam Attack' because the slide reminded them of a Baseball Player sliding to Home Plate. A simple maneuver, but more often than not, it proved to be effective. And judging from the blood that had splattered from the thing's face he could only assume that it was once again proven effective. Xavier smirked as he picked up his discarded Blast Cannon, having slid right next to it.

"RANGED ATTACKS!" he called out.

Dwayne pulled out his own Sub-Machine Gun, and two rained fire on the mass of flesh that had attempted to eat them before. With his own Assault Rifle, Roman joined in on the foray and they found that the beast was quickly dead.

They ceased fire, and welcomed the ringing in their ears as the area returned to its previous quietness. "Hooyah ..." Dwayne said stashing away his gun and bumping fists with Xavier.

"That wasn't too bad ..." Xavier said. Though he grimaced as he tried to roll his shoulder.

"You hurt at all?" Dwayne asked. "That thing grabbed ya pretty good."

"Nah, I'm good to go." Xavier said. The creature had in fact grabbed him very good, and he could still feel the strain on his shoulder where the Xeno's large fingers had twisted at his flesh. But there didn't seem to be any lasting wounds and he could still move, so it was probably nothing he couldn't just walk off.

Terrence hesitantly approached, with his Shield still at the ready, and the glow of an Ether Barrier surrounding him suggesting that he wasn't willing to let his guard down quite yet.

Xavier took a quick look at him. "Enjoy the show, Terrence?" he asked.

Terrence didn't respond, except maybe to cast his eyes down in a brief feeling of shame. However most of his attention was placed upon the still remaining pods in the area. His mouth was slightly opened and his legs were trembling. But despite that, he had a good stance, and he was no longer having a fit of anxiety.

 _He is BLADE after all._ Xavier thought, seeing Terrence in a slightly more respectable light.

"So, now what?" Dwayne asked. "You wanna cut this thing open, or should we continue on with the Mission?"

"Yeah, I think taking samples of the native wildlife is going to have to wait until we figure out what the hell is ... seriously?!" Xavier said. "NOW?"

"Yes." Roman said, having already assumed a kneeling position in front of the Xeno's corpse and began pulling out his field kit. "These samples that you speak of are better taken fresh, within an hour of the Indigen's death. Now that it seems that things have calmed down I'd like to take this opportunity to -"

"This is not the time!" Xavier said.

Roman looked at Xavier with a dull look on his face. The kind of look an adult would give to a child that was asking for candy. "We have other things to deal with than this, of course." Out of his pouch he pulled out what looked like a handheld blowtorch. "We have confirmation that there is a survivor on the premises." It was a blowtorch. Although the flame it created was very small and very concentrated, like a laser. "I suggest that I stay here and learn what I can from this subject, and you, as Team Leader, move into the Plant and ascertain the situation." With the torch he burned a Y-shaped incision across the creature's thorax. "Epidermis is flat, makes skinning the subject difficult. Will attempt to go directly into the digestive tract ..." Roman made his observations quietly as his entire focus switched to insides of the dead beast.

Xavier sighed, and rubbed his temples as he began to walk over to the doorway. "Dwayne, keep Doctor Hannibal covered while I go save some lives, will you?" he told Dwayne. "Since I'm apparently Team Leader now." he added.

Dwayne looked over to where Roman say and heard him say, "I see some kind of ... fabric ... but this is strange ... it's under the Lymph Nodes ..." Dwayne nearly gagged as he watched Roman pull out what looked like a bloody piece of skin and layed it out on the floor near him.

Dwayne looked back to his friend Xavier. "Is that an order, boss?"

"You brought him."

"And he saved your life."

"Shut up." Xavier said. "Seriously, no more loud noises."

Dwayne gestured with his hands a zipper like motion across his lips.

"Terrence." Xavier whispered getting his fellow Pathfinder's attention. Terrence looked over at Xavier, still not saying anything.

Xavier pointed towards the door and gestured Terrence to follow him. And with some hesitation Terrence made his was over to the Facility's Entrance alongside Xavier. As they reached the large doors they found that the security system had activated a Lock Down, and any passage would require the system returning to standby or a security key from one of the Staff Members on site. They wouldn't be able to get inside without either.

The woman that was inside seemed to be trying to get out, so perhaps the problem even extended further than that, but as Xavier saw things, they wouldn't be able to get the door open without help from the inside. He pulled out his comm. device and had it search for any nearby comms.. Hopefully, he thought, the woman or some other staff member had their's on their person, and would be able to pick up. Xavier didn't feel like knocking. After trying multiple different IDs, finally he got someone to pick up, and he heard the woman's voice.

" _Is someone there?_ " he heard from the comm..

Terrence jumped at the noise, and Xavier took a look around. He didn't see any motion in the nearby pods, but not wanting to take any further chances he turned the volume on his device down.

"We're BLADE Operatives that were sent to the Biahno Water-Purification Plant." he answered. "Who am I speaking to right now?"

" _Oh thank God!_ " she said. " _My name is Ajoa Byers, I'm a researcher here at the Plant. I'm all alone, and I can't get out, something's wrong with the facility._ "

"Okay, Ajoa. I need you to listen to me. We can't get inside without authorization from someone on staff. Now I need you to deactivate the Plant's security Lock Down. Until you do that we won't be able to get to you."

" _That's what I'm saying. The system is down, and I can't do anything from here. I've tried fixing it, but I'm no good with computers, and I can't open the doors with my ID Card because the console is smashed on my side."_

Xavier leaned his head against the doorway, and sighed. He looked at Terrence. "You're an Engineer, right? Any suggestions as to get this door open."

Terrence paused for a moment. "Th -" he stuttered on his voice, then swallowed. "I could try burning through it. But it will take hours, and we're really exposed out here." he said. "I know it sounds lame, but I really think we should fall back and hand this assignment over to someone more equipped."

"We're not leaving without the Researcher." Xavier said firmly.

" _Listen."_ came Ajoa's voice. " _I'm not seeing any of my teammates here inside with me, which means that the rest of the Research Team should be somewhere out there with you! Just get an ID Card from one of them and use it as a Security Key to get the Door open."_

Xavier and Terrence looked around, seeing only Dwayne, Roman, the dead Xeno, and a bunch of Pods. Xavier could only assume the worst.

He returned to the comm device, trying to find the right words to say. "Uhhhh ..."

" _And be careful. There are monsters running around in here. If you find one, don't hesitate to kill it."_

"Wait, what do you there are mons -" Xavier began to question Ajoa about her safety, before a whistle cut him off. "Dammit, Dwayne." he whispered.

He looked over to his friend who was waving his arm beckoning him over.

"Come on." Xavier told Terrence, and the two returned to the corpse where their two comrades stood.

Xavier thumped Dwayne in the chest. "What's the problem?!" he asked quietly.

Roman was the one who answered. "This is." he said.

He was holding something in his fingers, and he held it up for the others to see. It was small, flat, and rectangular. And although it was covered in blood and gore, Xavier could already tell, easily, what it was. It was an ID Card, probably held by one of the Research Team Members.

Everyone but Ajoa was dead.

 **BLADE Tower - 2027 hrs**

"They were eaten?" Doctor Leblanc asked.

Xavier snorted. "Yeah ... 'they were eaten.' That's what we thought at the time too."

If only they had just been eaten.


	10. Chapter 10

**Biahno Water-Purification Plant - 1230 hrs**

Xavier felt a sick sensation in his stomach, as he thought about what must have happened to the Researchers. From the inside of a dead Xeno, Roman had pried freed the remains of a Labcoat, what may have been the Collar Bone Segment of a Mimeosome, and of course the ID Badge that once belonged to a 'Wallace Nguyen - GENERAL STAFF', leading Xavier to the idea that the Water Plant's General Staff member Wallace Nguyen had somehow ended up on the inside of an incredibly violent beast.

He had been eaten, Xavier knew. And judging by the surplus of Pods around them he more than likely wasn't alone.

Roman twisted and turned the Badge that he held so that the four of them could get a proper look at the item despite the grime. Terrence didn't to care much for this, as he looked away from the sight on reflex. Dwayne stood there, with his arms crossed across his chest, and a grim face that was fit for a funeral.

Xavier didn't know of anyone being eaten in the field. Not until now at least. The nice thing about living life as a Mim is that you weren't very edible. Not unless you were a Creature that feeds off of Toxic Lubricant, Muscles made from Silicon and Fabric, and a lot of Aluminum and Steel. Right now, Xavier was made up of materials that were used to make a car. Not exactly a Gourmet. The only organic properties to them was the upper level of skin and the digestive track.

BLADE had seen plenty of Bites in the Four Months they'd been on Mira, but Xavier had never seen this level of carnage. Poor Wallace had been _eaten._ And this thing took its time feeding, as there didn't seem to be any large ... pieces.

"Okay ... so this is kind of bad ..." Xavier said.

"Kind of?" Dwayne retorted.

Xavier cringed at his own lack of tact.

"You know what I mean ..." Xavier wiped his forehead, thinking back to the Beast's breath in his face. Roman placed a finger at his lips, and shhhed the two, reminding them of their situation. The other pods didn't seem to be that responsive so far, but there wasn't any need to be careless. So Xavier didn't comment on the fact that Roman had just brought his unwashed hands to his mouth.

"So here's the skinny." Xavier quietly said. "The transmitter in this place is down, and I can't get a signal out far enough to send an SOS to anyone who'll listen. And now, we have a survivor on the premises, and we're the only ones around who can help." Xavier looked at his teammates to make sure they were following.

No one said anything.

"Our people are in danger, and we need to protect them. So I'm going to go in there and I'm going to figure out how to get her out of here. I can't make you come with me, so if you're with me great, and if you're not, then the nearest Base Camp is about 4 klicks to the East." Xavier swallowed. "Whose with me?"

"I'm with you." Dwayne immediately.

Xavier nodded. They were a team, through and through.

"It's not like I can walk away from a Lady before the first date, anyway." Dwayne said shrugging.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Xavier replied.

Terrence didn't say anything, and he seemed to be waiting for Roman to make a decision. Oddly enough, Roman seemed to be waiting on Terrence in return. He looked at Terrence for a few moments, and then gazed at the entrance of the facility. He then said to Terrence, without looking at him. "It'll be dangerous to go alone. If you will make your way to the Base Camp, then I shall accompany you." Roman continued to gaze at nothing in particular, waiting for a response.

Terrence shifted where he stood, looking very uncomfortable. He still had his Shield out, waiting for something ugly to jump out at him. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He stopped to look at the three others before finally saying, "I'll stay." Xavier blinked, surprised. Terrence might be able to handle this after all.

Roman, turned his attention to the group once more. "Let's go save the Damsel, then."

 _All for one ..._

"Move." Xavier said taking out his Blast Cannon. Roman and Dwayne pulled out their own Firearms, and the three followed Xavier as he returned to the Door.

"Roman, hit the scanner."

Roman moved near to where a glass panel and waved the ID Card in front of it. A chirp of a Computer sounded indicating that the system had recognized and accepted the Card's input, and the Door split in half and slid into the walls to its left and right. The team now had access to the plant.

"Dwayne, lead the way. Go." Xavier said, pointing his gun toward the group's rear.

Dwayne moved into the hallway leading into the Facility, followed by Terrence, and then Roman, and finally Xavier, as they moved in a line and snaked their way further into the plant. They hadn't even been moving for 20 seconds when they met the woman, standing near a door at the end of the hallway. Xavier recognized her. She was one of the people who hung around the Water Reservoir back at NLA. She was one of the Researchers, he realized.

"Oh, Thank God!" Ajoa said. "You got in? I was starting to think I'd be trapped in here with these things longer!"

She seemed a little shaken up, but Xavier couldn't see any injuries on her, so she was probably fine.

"You're safe now, ma'am." Dwayne said. "We're getting you home in one piece."

"You said that there were 'monsters' in here with you?" Xavier asked.

"Yes!" she said. "I haven't seen them in a few hours, but there were three of this things, that looked like naked Simius or something. They're inside here somewhere, and I was all alone here all morning!" She now seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Last night, the alarm went off as we were all sleeping." Ajoa explained. "It freaked us out, but nothing happened so I went back to sleep, while Ian and a few others went to see what was wrong. The alarm went off again this morning, which woke me up, and when I did everyone was gone, the doors were locked, and there were these monsters inside trapped with me, so I hid in the bathroom for like 6 hours trying to contact someone ..."

She sniffed.

"I heard voices ... outside and I tried to get you to open the door, but then I heard shouting, and shooting, and monsters, so I locked myself in the bathroom again and then you called, and now we're here ..."

The team watched Ajoa as she relayed her tale to them, and when she had finished speaking, they could only wonder on where to go from there. They didn't seem to need to say anything as Ajoa continued by saying, "but the door's open now right? So we can just leave? Now, please?"

"First we need to get this facility's Radio System back online. Our situation is a little complicated." Xavier said.

"What do you mean?" Ajoa asked.

"I mean, those monsters of yours? There's a lot more of them sitting right outside the door."

Ajoa, made a sound that sounded like something between a Gasp and an Eeek!

"You mean there are others besides the ones in here?!" she asked.

"Technically they're in a Cocoon like state, and aren't a direct harm to us. They are however sensitive to sound and we're not sure if simply walking away unaided is the best course of action." Roman said.

"You're saying it's like that outside as well?! That's crazy! How did this all happen?!"

Ajoa swayed, and clutched the hair on her head. She was very stressed. Her hope for escape was dwindling away into nothingness. "If they only respond to sound, then if we acted quietly could we just sneak past them?" she asked.

Xavier, paused. He wondered if she was going to ask that, and he had considered it as well, but ... "Believe me. That thing woke up from you hitting the door and shouting from the other side. I've seen a lot of good BLADEs get chased down by Xenos they thought they could run away from, and I'm not going to take that chance with you. We need to kill these things. And we need help doing it."

Ajoa had a look of devastation on her face as she tried to process his words. She shook and grabbed herself, looking like she was really ready to cry now. Quietly she asked, "why are you even here?"

Xavier paused again. The truth of their mission probably wouldn't encourage her.

Dwayne, pitched in. "Rosie sent us here. She was worried about you, 'cause your team hadn't been contacting her. So we came to see if everything was alright."

Xavier looked at Ajoa to see if she would buy his words.

"Rosie asked you to come?" she asked sounding somewhat surprised.

"Yeah, she did." Dwayne said. "She probably isn't good at showing it, but I think she does care about you guys. And thanks to that, we're here to save the day." Dwayne put on a small smile.

Ajoa looked down at her feet. "Rosie ..." she said. She stood still for a few seconds before saying "I guess I owe her then."

A shrill ringing noise pierced the inside of the plant. It was some kind of alarm, and it made Xavier miss the sound of Dwayne's annoying whistle. "What does this alarm indicate?" Roman yelled over the sound of the alarm.

"Something's wrong with the Water Reserve!" Ajoa shouted with her ears covered.

"I think I now where your Monster friends are hiding then!" Roman said.

"Where is the Reserve!" Xavier asked loudly.

"Uhh ... you need to go through the control room-"

"What?!" Xavier asked. "I can't hear you!"

"Nevermind, I'll show you!" she said. She then walked around a corner leading into another short hallway. She reached the only door at the end, though before she could move through it Dwayne stopped her and moved into the room first with his Sub-machine Gun drawn out. "Room Clear!" he shouted, though no one could hear his words clearly. They did file through into a spacious room that held several monitors embedded into a wall, as well as a large console, and some field equipment of a purpose unknown to Xavier.

"The reserve is straight through that door!" she said pointing to another door at the far side of the room. "You just go straight through until you reach an exit just like the doors you first came through! I'll stay here and see if I can figure things out through the security footage!"

Xavier nodded. "Fine! We'll leave one of us here with you!" he shouted. "Terrence!"

Terrence looked up and shouted in return, "I stay here and help Ajoa!"

"Good man!" Xavier said patting him on the shoulder. "Roman and Dwayne, with me! Let's go kill these things!"

And they split up. With Ajoa and Terrence remaining in the Control Room, and Xavier, Dwayne, and Roman moving to investigate the Reserve where they believed the hostile indigens that Ajoa had spoke of were hiding.

 **BLADE Tower - 2034 hrs**

"That's where things got bad." Xavier said.

Doctor Leblanc gave out a hmmm, as he typed on his monitor.


	11. Chapter 11

**BLADE Tower - 2034 hrs**

Xavier closed his eyes and slowly he opened them again.

"So..." he said.

"Yes?" asked the Doctor.

"I'm not sure how you want me to do this. Do you want a brief rundown of the events that transpired today, or do you want me to give you every lucid detail that I can recall, because this whole thing between you and me talking here in this dark room hasn't really been a party for me."

Dr. Leblanc looked at the monitor on his desk and ran his eyes over the list of questions that he was meant to ask BLADE Corporal Moran. He eventually settled upon one, though he wasn't entirely sure how fit his current deskmate was for receiving it. It was to ask him about the creatures themselves. The very creatures that caused so much pain for all those involved, and would certainly be a source of great sorrow for this man. On the other hand it might be best to get it out of the way as soon as possible, as a means to minimize any pain he might be feeling and help him move past it as quickly as possible.

"Seriously, why the hell is it so goddamn dark in this place?" said Xavier, continuing his previous line of thought. "I'm honestly starting to get a little claustrophobic in here. Oh wait, you're a shrink so that's probably a non-joking matter to you. Fine, I'm _figuratively_ starting to get a little claustrophobic in here."

"Sorry about that," the Doctor said stifling a laugh, "uh, BLADE Tower contains a lot of electrical equipment and NLA has a limited amount of power to run with, so Administration had to make a few sacrifices in order to keep the essentials in working order. Which is why we don't have things like basic indoor lighting, and tap water."

"Sounds like we need to install some Solar Panels. Or at least get some Candles in here."

The Doctor smiled. "Your sense of humor is still intact."

"It's the only thing that is ..." Xavier's voice trailed off and gazed blankly to the side.

Doctor Leblanc really did need to tread carefully here. Setting some of his sympathies aside he asked: "During your engagement, you stated that one of the creatures found at the scene grabbed you on your shoulder. Do you believe that was when you were infected?"

Xavier's head ticked a bit at the question, but mustering up his resolve he gave a short answer. "I guess so. After that, I wasn't really in the mood to let one of those things grab me again. And looking back I did start exhibiting ... symptoms."

"How quickly did these symptoms these symptoms manifest after the transmission?' the Doctor asked carrying on.

Xavier shrugged and shook his head a bit. "A few minutes I guess?"

"Can you tell me what symptoms you experienced, in detail?"

Xavier returned to a more proper attention once again.

"Why?" he asked.

"We need to know." the Doctor said.

"Are you guys actually planning on going back to that hellpit?" Xavier said with some anger in his voice. "Because that's the only reason I can come up with in thinking why you'd need to know about what it's like to have an alien parasite living inside me. So that when you send a bunch of other soft scientists to get some water, they'll know what to watch out for."

"Xavier -"

"Shut up! That plant?! That plant is a death trap! Three BLADEs and Eight Civilians were killed because you guys were worried about getting a little thirsty!"

"Calm down, please."

"I AM CALM!" Xavier shouted. "I WATCHED THREE OF MY FRIENDS GET RIPPED TO PIECES FROM THE INSIDE, I GOT CLOSE TO GETTING SOME OF THE SAME, AND NOW I"M HERE HAVING A CIVIL CONVERSATION WITH A GUY I"VE NEVER MET! THIS DOC?!" he pointed a finger at his own face for emphasis, "THIS IS THE CALMEST THAT I CAN POSSIBLY BE!"

As he shouted Doctor Leblanc decided to wait him out linking his fingers together by resting his arms on his elbows and his chin on his hands. When the shouting stopped he said, "I believe you, Xavier. But I need you to stop shouting, otherwise someone on the outside may get worried."

"AHH!" Xavier raised his arms and shot up out of his chair. "I"M DONE! I AM SO DONE!" He then turned his back on the good Doctor and walked to the door. As he lifted the latch that would have allowed him to open his exit he found that it locked from within. He then proceeded to kick at door with great strength.

"Corporal, stop!" the Doctor shouted above the sound of Xavier's foot banging against the metal door.

With a flash of Ether Xavier was able to generate enough force in his kick causing the door to crumple at the hinges. Another kick, and the door fell away outward. Xavier proceeded to walk out of the room only to be met by a scared looking Man and a Woman both wielding rifles pointed at the frame of the door.

"Freeze!" the woman shouted. Holding her weapon with enough bravado that she looked at least somewhat intimidating. Xavier didn't care much for bravado at the moment.

"Go ahead, pull that trigger, I dare ya."

 _ **POP!**_

The sound of a Gun Shot, then seeing the room roll around him as he fell backwards, and then a blunt pain in his chest was felt, and a thud as he hit the floor of Leblanc's office.

"What the hell, Dan?!" he heard the woman say. It seems that the Man was the one who shot him. _I guess I did dare them._

 **BLADE Tower - 2054 hrs**

"I think a few apologies are in order. I admit, I let my anger get the better of me, which is unbecoming of someone in my occupation, and I realize and deeply regret my previous emotional outburst. I am now prepared to face whatever disciplinary action you deem appropriate." Xavier said in a cordial manner. "Once again, I am sorry for any trouble I have caused."

After he "broke out" of Doctor Leblanc's office, he was shot at close range by a low powered Rifle that managed to knock him on the floor. Afterwards a team of other such armed individuals piled into the hallway they were in and restrained his arms and legs and sat him into a larger, brightly lit, but less cozy room. They sat him in a chair where he was surrounded by a four Riflemen to make sure he didn't do anything foolish. After about ten minutes he was introduced to a Blonde Haired woman wearing a Pair of Sunglasses and a Business Suit that showed off a little too much cleavage. Not that Xavier would normally mind, but the fact that she introduced herself as "the Girl that would decide his fate" kind of put him out of the mood and only served to distract him.

"Thank you for that Mr. Moran, now we can get started." the woman said.

"These restraints aren't necessary, Ma'am. I've got myself under control."

"Do you?" she asked, tilting her head. "I was woken up from my well earned beauty sleep to be informed that NLA had a possible Xeno intrusion in progress. I wondered at the time why HQ would waste time with a "possible" Xeno intrusion until, to my surprise, I was told that a BLADE operative in the field was said to have turned into a wild indigen during an Interceptor MedEvac. And that in our custody we had another Operative who claims to be undergoing a similar transformation."

"Not anymore. I'm cured. That little glass of water I downed helped confirm it."

"How do I know that for sure?" she asked coyly. "We don't know anything at all about this condition, all because everyone who can tell us is either K.I.A. or acting like stubborn little brats!"

"Look, I know I can be a little-"

"Bitch? Yeah, I figured that one out on my own, thanks."

Xavier opened his mouth, but couldn't find a response t that, so he shut it again.

"We gave you the opportunity to ease the report out of you. Leslie was very kind in volunteering on your behalf, but now the time to play nice with you just got kicked through the door."

The woman leaned towards him, exposing her Bra which Xavier didn't dare to glance at. She then stuck her face close enough for him to see his reflection in her sunglasses. Xavier could hear his heartbeat, he was trying to be as quiet as possible.

"This is no longer an after mission report, it's an interrogation, and you will answer our questions quickly, concisely, and honestly, Mr. Moran." she said. "What were the list of symptoms that you experienced?"

Xavier gulped and returned to breathing. "Dehydration, fatigue, a feeling of skin irritation, and in later stages delirium which consistently involved a need to reach a source of water."

The woman - his 'Interrogator' - leaned away from him and resumed her position standing away from him.

"Excellent, Mr. Moran. Now let's keep going."


	12. Chapter 12

**BLADE Tower - 2055 hrs**

"I think what I'm most anxious to hear about is what transpired during the extraction." the Woman continued. "Earlier in the day BLADE Command received a series of Texts, from the Biahno Water Purification Plant, stating that the facility had become overrun by Hostile Indigens, and a placement for assistance in eliminating the threat was made. About an hour later the Request for Assistance was altered from a need for fire support to an Extraction Mission. We'll get to your change of heart later." She was pacing back and forth in front of Xavier at this point, and he did not like the implication found in that last sentence. He let it slide for now. "This is where things got interesting for our end."

"Command requisitioned an Interceptor team that was fulfilling a Patrol Mission in the region. We got them to drop their things and rush over to the plant to perform your extraction, to find two of you in desperate need of medical attention. It was here that the other survivor "transformed" as we're calling it, and attacked the team sent to retrieve you."

Xavier's heart began to race as he thought back to that moment, when he experienced a feeling of horror and despair as he realized Terrence, the most innocent and only other survivor of the group was lost to him.

"Am I right so far, or do you care enough to clarify?", she asked bluntly.

A small from formed on Xavier's face, but he didn't shout. He expressed his anger by simply staring at his interrogator. He breathed in. And he breathed out. And he recalled the Extraction.

 **Biahno Water-Purigication Plant - 1415 hrs - Two Hours after meeting Ajoa ...**

Terrence was on the floor panting. Gasping with a raspy breath and gripping his shoulders as he tried to fight off whatever pain he must have been feeling. A look of fear and agony was on his face as he gazed at the ceiling of the Plant's Control Room. He rolled over onto his side, and after a few moments of laying in this position he must have decided that it didn't relieve his discomfort because he returned to lying on his back.

Xavier just sat, with his back against the wall and his legs sprawled out in front of him. It had been nearly 40 minutes since they had contacted HQ. Why hadn't the rescue team arrived yet? They should be here by now, right? Here to relieve them of this torture. Here to quench their thirst. Here to give them water ...

Xavier slapped himself in the face at the thought of that forbidden liquid. The Xeno inside his body was making him think these things. It was another battle. A horrible, haunting battle within the chasm of his mind, with one side propelling him to survive, and the other continuously egging him to give into his desires. Why did his skin feel so dry? When was the last time he had a drink? This morning? Before they left NLA? ... Coffee. It was the Coffee he drank at breakfast. If he weren't being compelled to feel thirst, he'd definitely be parched right about now. Damn. Was the last thing he ate ... _the_ last thing that he ate?

Xavier rubbed his forehead. "Damn ..." He kept sliding his palm across his brow. He felt gross. He felt dirty. He needed to be washed. No. That's how Ajoa bought her ticket to the other side. With a shower. All that water dripping and spilling all over her naked body. She wasn't unattractive, Xavier thought. What had she said to them? That she wouldn't mind if one of them barged in? Did that mean what he thought it meant? Maybe he should test out his theory. See how she responded to him joining her in the shower room. God, it would feel good to ... Why was he standing up?

Xavier caught himself in a crouching position. Ohohoho! Very cheeky, little evil Xeno living inside my body, Xavier thought. Trying to use my heterosexuality to get me to a source of water. Well, you'll have to try harder than that to get the better over me. I won't kill myself for anything less than a Foursome! A Foursome, I tell you! First thing that I'm going to do, when we get back to NLA, is I'm going get myself my payment from Rosie, and I'm going to tell her how much of a disgusting example of the Human Race she is, I'm going to get drunk, and I'm going to get laid with the hottest chick that I find. I don't care if that's demeaning to the woman I meet, I deserve it. Oh God, Ora, I can't believe I tried to bring you to this place? And Dwayne ...

Xavier sat down and hit his head against the wall to his back. _Dwayne ... why were you the one to die?_ Grief fled into him, and Xavier resumed rubbing his forehead again. At least he wasn't thinking about water anymore, but he couldn't really say that the emotions he felt were an improvement for him. He covered his eyes with his hand. _Why?!_

Terrence groaned. He was starting to break again, which meant Xavier needed to figure out another way to wind him down again. "Ack ... crap... how long has it been? Xavier?", he groaned out. Xavier waited three seconds before answering, for it took quite a bit of energy for him to form words. "About 40 minutes.", he said, and in response Terrence cried out.

"I can't do this anymore, man! I can't! I'm going to crack! I'm already starting to go insane! I can't, I can't , I can't, I can't ..." he chanted. Xavier felt like hitting him, but he knew that he didn't have the strength for such a pointless act, nor would it help his friend. And Terrence was his friend. How could he not be? After all they went through together today, there was no way Xavier couldn't care for this man he barely knew, because if he survived it would be a small token in this mission not being a complete failure for him. Roman, too. He cared enough that he wished Roman a better fate than the one he received, and that made him his friend.

It hurt, to do such a thing, but in spite of that Xavier crawled over to where Terrence lay and did his best to embrace his his distressed comrade. "You will ...", Xavier said. Terrence now cried openly, with tears falling from his eyes. "I'm sorry for bringing you out here ..." Xavier whispered, mostly to himself. It was quiet enough that he wasn't sure whether or not Terrence heard him, but maybe it was best that he didn't. Reminding him that he could have and even tried to avoid this agony would only serve to torture him further.

A few minutes passed, and Xavier released his embrace, and instead adopted Terrence's method of lying on his back. They both lied there, listening to the silence, and waiting for something to happen. "I'm so thirsty ..." Terence rasped out. "Yeah ... me too." Xavier said.

The chirping noise of his Comm. Device rang out. At first, Xavier couldn't comprehend the noise he was hearing, but then he remembered, that there were people coming to help him. He pulled his Comm. out of his pocket, and pressed the on button. A holographic screen came up, displaying the words 'AUDIO ONLY'. The Device automatically pulled in the call as he turned it on, and into the microphone he quietly said, "Hello?"

"Is this the Biahno Water Plant Team?" a man's voice asked.

"This is them ..."

"We are approaching the Plant right now, with MedEvac containment units, where exactly are you?"

" ... uhh ... we're in the main room near the center of the facility."

"We're seeing a lot of organic material near the entrance, what's the status of Indigens in the Plant?"

"They're dead ... we killed them all ..."

"... Copy that, moving in."

Xavier could hear a commotion in the outer hallway as a group of about ten BLADE Operatives rushed into the Command Room, all wearing an Interceptor Insignia , and all armed. One of the Operatives near the front of the group shouted, "they're right here, Boss! We got 'em."

The man who must have been in charge spoke into a Comm. Set on his Helmet. "HQ, this is Team Decker, we found the package, I say again we have found the package. We are moving to extract, Over."

Another BLADE stood over Terrence and Xavier looking at their condition. "What's your name? Hey, look at me! What's your name pal." He then proceeded to grab Terrence's face at the jaw and turned his head around to make sure that he was at least somewhat conscious. Terrence said something, but it was too quiet for anyone to hear. "This one's hurt bad, Boss. He's disoriented." the examiner said.

Xavier had managed to stand himself up. He looked at the guy they called "Boss". "I guess you're our rescuers, huh?" he said. The Boss, responded with, "Domach, leader of Team Decker. And yeah we answered your distress call. Are there any other survivors?" Xavier shook his head. "Just the two of you?" Domach asked.

Sadness crept into Xavier's face, "the others didn't make it. The Research team, Roman Perkins, Dwayne Chambers ... they're gone ..."

"Why the MedEvac, request? You seem to be okay.", a female BLADE asked.

It was so hard to talk ... Xavier said, "Listen to me. I know this is gonna sound insane, but we can't go near water. It's raining outside right? We need you to transport us using the MedEvac units, in order to keep ourselves dry and out of the rain, it's the only way to save us."

"What are you talking about?", Domach talked.

"Water, he's asking for water.", said the one near Terrence.

"There's something inside of our bodies. It infected everyone here at the plant, and if we come into contact with ... wait a sec ..." Xavier stopped what he was saying and turned to face Terrence. The Examiner had something in his hands ... a canteen. A water canteen, that he was passing into the shaking hands of Terrence. Xavier shouted no, nut he knew he couldn't do anything else as he watched his friend slurp down the fatal drink from its container. A wave of relief washed over Terrence's features as he downed four mouthfulls of water faster than any normal human should have and let the rest of the canteen's contents wash over his face and neck.

A second passed, but then time seemed to slow down as Xavier watched with absolute grief and horror as Terrence made a harsh gargling noise in his throat. The skin on his neck split vertically beneath his chin and continued downwards as a creature inside grew and violently tore its way from out of its hosts body. A Black Tongue sprouted out from Terrence's mouth and his face disappeared as it was replaced by the Six Eyed Image of a Monster that Xavier would never forget.

The Creature howled, and before the Examiner could respond, he was flung aside by one of the gigantic arms that had erupted from Terrence's thorax.

"OPEN FIRE." Domach shouted.

And the Interceptors rained hell upon the beast. Not entirely Xeno, Xavier saw. He could still see parts of his friend here and there. A Terrence-Xeno hybrid, and he didn't know how to respond as it was burned and killed halfway through its transformation.

Xavier would have cried there. Were it not for the Assault Rifle that was pointed right at his face.


	13. Chapter 13

**BLADE Tower - 2058 hrs**

"They restrained me, right after that.", Xavier said. "I guess the idea of a big scary monster popping out of my body was a little too much for them."

"According to Team Decker's report, you fought back and resisted." the Woman redirected. "Why?"

Xavier tilt his head as he gazed away. "In retrospect, I may have over reacted a bit. There seemed to have been a bit of miscommunication between me and the Rescue team. They were freaking out, then I got the idea that they'd drag me out in the rain, which got me freaking out, and after that ... well I'm probably not going to be on their friend's list."

"Why were you sheltering yourself from the rain?" she asked.

Xavier rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure I recall mentioning, somewhere along the line, that those things respond to water." Xavier returned to facing his interrogator, "by the way. Not that my opinion is of any concern of yours, but if you are planning on sending another team down to that place, I would like to emphasize the irony of being infected by a water seeking parasite at a WATER Refinery." He raised his voice on the word 'water' but quickly returned to a show of calmness before anyone decided to shoot him again.

"Another thing:", Xavier continued before anyone could respond, "are you sending anyone back? I never did get that question answered."

"That's not my decision."

"Well, then I guess your absolved of any responsibilities concerning it then, aren't you?" Xavier said, sneering. "Be sure to tell whoever does make that decision to screw themselves."

"The construction of the Water-Purification Plant near Biahno Lake was not made by anyone here in Administration. The Research Team, who fell victim today, made that decision themselves. They, and members of BLADE and Engineering, all collaborated and worked together because they thought they could prevent a Water Shortage here in the City."

"They died for nothing ..." Xavier said.

The Woman folded her arms across her chest, and in a very serious tone responded. "If they did die, it's because they tried to help the Human Race survive. You think that's nothing?"

 _No ..._ Xavier thought to himself. "They did not need to die. They shouldn't have died. But they did."

The Woman didn't say anything in response to that, and a depressing atmosphere clouded the room as they both had their moment of silence. Thinking about those who lost their lives tends to do that to a room. Xavier thought about Dwayne. They were renting out that house in Ishmael Hills together, and now he would have to pay for it on his own. Maybe he could open it up for rent? Get a few roommates ... but who? It occurred to Xavier that he didn't really have any friends on this planet. He never really felt the need to pursue a social life while in BLADE, as the first few months were very hectic and the assignments he undertook for Pathfinder and the ambition and sense of duty he felt dwarfed any motivation he may have had to just, sit and talk. And then there was Dwayne Chambers. A Reclaimer with a personality, and someone Xavier found to be easy to talk to, and someone who shared his ambitions. They'd run into each other on cross assignments, with Xavier in Pathfinder finding the occasional wreckage strewn about, and Dwayne in Reclaimer answering the call. Soon they found themselves working together more frequently, and when they both received candidacy for obtaining a Skell License they decided to form their own team. He, literally, was Xavier's best friend in the whole wide world. And now he might be gone forever, trapped in a slumber never to be found.

The shadow of a smile formed on Xavier's mouth. _I'm thinking like some damn old widow ..._ How pathetic is that? Not incredibly, but Xavier did feel sad.

The Woman was the first to speak again, "Okay let's get back on track." She resumed her pacing in front of the restrained BLADE operative. "How did you discover this 'illness'? Did someone in your group turn?"

Xavier blinked, and thought back. Then answered, "Ajoa Byers. The survivor we found, she was the first to turn in front of us. But we weren't the ones who figured out what was going on with everyone in the plant. That "honor" goes to Ian. The guy who was in charge."

"Ian Parker? You found him alive at the plant?"

"No. But we found his access card. Or rather, Roman did, after we engaged the group of Xenos inside the facility ..."

 **Biahno Water-Purification Plant - 1240 hrs - Three minutes after meeting Ajoa ...**

"Roman and Dwayne, with me! Let's go kill these things!"

Ajoa had her ears covered, to shield them from the high pitched alarm ringing, as she approached the main console hooked to a series of large monitors embedded in the wall of the Control Room. Terrence remained with her with his shield out, keeping a close eye on the door leading out to the Facility's main entrance. With his Blast Cannon drawn he rushed through the doors leading further into the plant with both Roman and Dwayne close behind.

"Not like we came to have tea with them!" Dwayne shouted.

"Shut up, Dwayne! Let's go!" Xavier called back.

They snaked their way through another hallway much like the one they came through upon entering the plant, although this one didn't have any doors leading to adjacent rooms. They saw more red flashing holographic words that read EMERGENCY, and Xavier couldn't but feel like he was back on the White Whale again. They were under attack the Xenos were here to kill us...

After a short stretch they arrived at another Bulkhead style door, and just like the Main Entrance, it would not open without an authorization input from one of the Researchers' access card. "I hope you still got that card with you, Roman!" Xavier said, beckoning him towards the scanning plate. For reasons Xavier probably didn't want to know Roman had kept the Card inside one of the pouches on his Jacket. He slipped it out getting more of the bloody gunk on his clothes and hands, but once again it served it function, as Roman waked it in front of the panel another 'chirp' could be barely heard and the doors slid open revealing a series of catwalks traversing a pool of water containing the filters. And directly in front of the entrance, was a large Pod. Noise of the alarm screamed out of the now open closed facility, and it wasn't even a second before four arms, one pair massive, one pair small, smashed out from inside the shell and proceeded to tear apart the pod revealing an even larger Monster than the one they had encountered before.

"Fire, fire, fire!" Xavier called to his comrades, and they all pointed their guns at the beast and pulled their triggers, releasing three vectors of metal and fire into the creature's flesh. It responded like a man who had just been stung by a bee, and it only served to enrage it, and it charged the group head on.

Both Xavier and Roman chose to dive out of the way, knowing full well how powerful these Beasts were. But Dwayne, in either his brazenness or ignorance held his ground and unsheathed both of his Blades, holding them tip out. Collision was made, with the Beast ramming into the edge of two swords. Blood could be seen, but the momentum of the Creature's charge caused Dwayne to be slammed back into the railing of the catwalk the battle was taking place. The weight and force of the too was great, and the railing began to groan and break away. The air from Dwayne's lungs were pushed out in a gasp as he began to be crushed between the hide of his aggressor and the metallic beams holding him in place.

"Dammit, HANG ON DWAYNE!" Xavier shouted, pulling out his knife.

With the Xeno's back turned, Xavier launched an attack in an attempt to save his friend. He jumped onto the creature's body and hooked his left arm around its neck anchoring him up, and with the knife in his right hand he drove the tip of the blade into where a jugular vein would have been. Blood sprayed out of the wound inflicted as the Knife microscopic serrations vibrated upon contact with the beast. If he had only been attempting to free his friend, then Xavier succeeded, but he couldn't say that he had saved Dwayne. As he wounded the Xeno it responded by thrashing about violently trying to throw Xavier off its back, and during the commotion the railing finally broke causing Dwayne to fall into the Water below.

"ARRRGGHHH!" Xavier screamed, trying to hold on for dear life. It didn't last, as the creature rolled over, briefly crushing Xavier underneath forcing him to let go from the shock. The Xeno screamed into the air, and then proceeded to yank the pair of swords out of its chest. It turned to face Xavier who was only just returning to his feet. But before it could launch itself into another charge, it was met with a series of bullets coming from Roman's rifle forcing it back.

Quickly he moved to Xavier's side and brought him back to a standing position. Xavier shouts, "We need to regroup with Dwayne, he fell into the reserve!" Roman glanced at Xavier but never took the sights of his gun off the beast. "I know," he said, "I'm using a Flash Grenade, get ready." And as he said this he popped a large cartridge into the chamber of his Rifle. As the Beast turned to face the two again, Roman cried, "Flash Out!" and launched his Flash Grenade into the Xeno's scarred face. An explosion, then a Burst of Light of the Grenade detonated causing Xavier to avert his to prevent himself from being blinded. He could only imagine what the Beast must be going through right now. "Ramp, right side!", he called out, and the two moved down a ramp leading down into the Water itself. They didn't need to look very hard as they could see Dwayne already swimming towards their position.

Xavier smiled in spite of the situation. "Jeez man, you gave us a scare there. You enjoying a nice swim?"

"GET AWAY FROM THE WATER!" Dwayne shouted with panic in his voice, between breaths. "THEY'RE IN THE FRIGGIN' WATER!"

And sure enough Xavier could see two more of the same Xenos floating towards the three of them with one approaching Dwayne as he swam as fast as his Mimeosome was capable. Xavier felt a sense of panic brewing up within himself as well. "Oh, CRAP! ROMAN, SHOOT THEM DOWN!" Roman immediately aimed down his sights at the one nearest to Dwayne, but as he pulled the trigger his Rifle made the sound of a snap and a click. Roman swore, and as quickly as he could, he went through the process of ejecting the empty cartridge that had carried his flash grenade and re-calibrating his Rifle to fire live rounds again. But it was too late. As Roman cocked his gun, the Xeno brought Dwayne into a deadly embrace in the water, and with the last thing heard from him being a yell, he was pulled down beneath the surface of the water.

"Nooooo!" Xavier cried out. "ROMAN! KILL IT!"

"I can't open fire, I might hit him!" he stated, still aiming down his sights.

Xavier ran back up the ramp, he could see that the Xeno that Roman had blinded was now washing its face and eyes in the water of the Reservoir, but Xavier did not care about that in the slightest, the only thing that mattered to him was saving his friend before he drowned. He picked up his Blast Cannon where he had dropped it and ran down one of the catwalks. He picked up speed until he was now going into a harsh sprint, and when the moment was right, he leapt off of the catwalk and landed on top of one of the Filters sticking out from the water's surface.

As soon as his feet hit something solid, he crouched down and aimed his Cannon looking for his friend. The Reservoir wasn't shallow, but at the same time it was very clear and he could see his Dwayne and his opponent scrambling against each other near the floor. Dwayne was losing, as he had to fight against both the weight of the water around him and the arms and jaws of creature much stronger then himself. Xavier fired several times into the water and watched as the surface near him sizzled and hissed as the water evaporated at the touch of the supercharged rounds. They seemed to do now good, as they lost their velocity quickly upon submerging.

"Dammit!" Xavier looked through the steam into the water where his friend was fighting. Dwayne had been underwater for nearly a minute now, and if he hadn't drowned yet he would soon. They say desperate times call for desperate measures, and Xavier was feeling incredibly desperate at the moment. He couldn't effectively fire at the Beast from up here, and he didn't dare risk drowning himself by going down there to join the fight. Nor did he wish to abandon his friend. He needed to force the creature to let Dwayne go, and while there was a simple way to do so, he worried for the safety of his friend.

Dwayne was not moving anymore, and fear took all of Xavier's reasoning. _This will maybe kill, but if I don't do this you won't 'maybe' die._ And with that forced sense of resolve he yanked a Grenade from his pouch and primed the fuse and got it to cook. When he felt it grow warm he dropped the explosive into the water above the two fighters and watched it fall slowly down.

 _...4_

 _...3_

 _...2_

 _..._

The Grenade disappeared, and in its place a pocket of air was born that quickly ripped its way through the liquid chamber, sending a thick shock-wave in all directions. Xavier felt the filter he stood upon shake under him, but continued to watch whether his attempt worked. And yes, he saw the Xeno get cast aside in the blast and saw it release Dwayne. Dwayne's body floated near the surface and Xavier swept him up and hung him over his still aching shoulder. He kind of wished that he had just dived in, he was starting to feel thirsty. But first ...

Xavier leapt back towards the catwalk, only barely making it with the extra weight of his friend. He laid Dwayne down onto the platform and checked for his vitals. He wasn't moving which was never a good sign, but the major indicator of life in a Mimeosome is ...

"Shoot ..." Xavier said under his breath. He opened up Dwayne's eyelids and saw that his irises were a stone colored gray. Normally the eyes of a Mimeosome shone brightly and had a distinct color, but when they weren't in use or lost functionality from damage they reverted to a dim color to show that they were hollow. "No!" Xavier said.

During Xavier's ordeal in retrieving Dwayne, Roman had been engaging the other Xeno in the water by range. Eventually the pain must have became too much because the Beast swam away, and with the battle postponed Roman ran to his comrades' side. Upon seeing the motionless Dwayne he asked, "Is he ...?"

"He's drowned!" Xavier shouted with anger in his voice.

"I'm sorry ..."

"The hell you are, he isn't dead yet!" and he proceeded to perform CPR on his fallen friend.

"You're trying to resuscitate him?!" Roman asked with in-credulousness.

"There's a 30 second window to restore connection when the signal between Host and Mim is broken, I can still save him!"

Xavier blew air into Dwayne's mouth, and pressed down hard onto his chest.

"Come on! Come on, Dwayne! You're not that easy to kill, come on!" He was beating Dwayne's chest now.

"Come on! The pieces are still in place, Dwayne! You just got to get them working again! COME ON!"

And with a final heavy pound that from Xavier's fist coming down onto Dwayne's chest, the fallen Reclaimer gasped out and began coughing up water. Xavier could barely believe that it had worked, and Roman was even more flabbergasted. The color returned to Dwayne's eyes ad he continued to cough up the liquid from his lungs. With a groan he said, "Please ... tell me ... no one kissed me ..." He coughed again, then rolled onto his back. "That's a movie reference. Gosh, I miss T.V.."

Xavier gave a sigh of relief. But all comfort was lost when he heard a roar once again. The Xeno that Roman had flashed had just recovered, and it was angry. It was very angry.


	14. Chapter 14

**Biahno Water-Purification Plant - 1246 hrs**

"Roman, move him!" Xavier ordered while picking up his own weapon once more.

As the beast turned to look at the BLADEs huddled together nearby, Xavier lined down the Blast Cannon to fire right at the soft area around his opponent's throat. Like before, he could see that it folded and flapped in a pattern that he would expect from a life form breathing. Did these things even have lungs? Xavier could only find out by trying to roast them in its chest.

He placed his left hand near the barrel of the gun, formed a strong grip with his right hand, and stocked the weapon into his shoulder. He peeked down the electronic scope which read the thermal signature from the Xeno and prompted him in how to properly align his shot. As he did this, Roman grabbed Dwayne by the harness going over his shoulders and started dragging away from the Hostile Indigen. It turned its body completely and looked as if it was preparing to go for another charge. _Stupid beast, doesn't know when to learn!_ Xavier smirked, and with a clear shot he squeezed the trigger. Inside his Blast Cannon the electromagnetic generated a field around the chambered round, and with some additional propulsion from the internal hammer, the miniature missile became super-heated and whizzed forward at a supersonic speed. The force from the discharged shot caused the Cannon to kick back into Xavier's chest, but he held the weapon firm and kept the sights on the Xeno's chest. The Round cut through the air, and within a fraction of a second it hit its mark just slightly to the left of the creatures chest flap, penetrating its tissue and burrowing its way through whatever organs it must have had. The round's course shifted as it encountered resistance but eventually it touched air again on the other side whizzing away.

Next fraction of a second. The molecules on the surface of the Indigen's body where its flesh had been disturbed reacted to the Oxygen that it was now exposed to. The friction absorbed caused the billions of atoms to lunge out and embrace the fresh air, and the energy released caused the gas around to swirl about in the concentration of heat as flames erupted around the Round's entry point. At this point the Indigen now feels the shock from being shot as it ripples throughout the rest of its being. Smoke around the muzzle of Xavier's Blast Cannon fans out in front of him, only slightly impairing his vision. The sound of the shot can be heard in the distance. The creature almost trips as its initial charge is disrupted. The spring mechanism inside the magazine pushes another round into place in the chamber, waiting to be fired.

Next. The electromagnet inside generates the energy needed to charge the next round. The lag time is small, not even a quarter of a second. But those intervals can accumulate greatly in the battlefield, which is why Xavier prefers to shoot for the quickest kill. But sure enough he hears the click from the chamber, giving the indication that the magnet is primed and the trigger is ready to be pulled. In pain or anger, the Beast roars out now feeling the first effects of the bullet that traveled through it. But Xavier doesn't give it much time to vent its emotions. He squeezes the trigger a second time, feeling the kick, watching the impact, waiting for prime. Third shot, a second has already passed. Kick, impact, prime. Kick, impact, prime. Kick, impact, prime. Kick, impact, prime. Kick, impact, prime. Kick, impact, prime. Kick impact prime.

 _BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG hiiisssssss!_

Ten shots fired into the Xeno's upper chest region. Xavier watched it slump forward on the eighth shot, and held fire on the tenth, listening to the echo bouncing off the walls around the reservoir. The beast had made a fine attempt at charging, getting within Eight meters of where Xavier stood. Xavier walked towards where it lay and gazed at it. It was still breathing, shallow, wheezing breaths, and when his foot came near the creature's face it gave a small whining noise not unlike what you might here from a dog in pain. It was still hanging on, even after its lungs had been turned to ground beef. But it was in terrible pain, and could not move, so its only option of survival was to cry out and hope for mercy. With a stern look, Xavier thought about what this thing might have done. Had it devoured one of the Researchers as well? Did it deserve this pain?

Xavier breathed in. And then he breathed out. He then pointed his gun at the creature's head, and ended its suffering entirely. "One down ..." he said, though he knew no one could hear him. He looked around, but did not see any other of the Indigens. There had been the one that took a grenade underwater, and there was another that Roman engaged and scared off. If Dwayne had survived, then that Xeno definitely survived, meaning that they still had at least two more to deal with. He looked towards Roman, who was still dragging Dwayne away around a corner where they wouldn't be seen from the main pool. Xavier rushed over and regrouped with the two.

"You get him?", Roman asked.

Xavier nooded in affirmative. "Bug food." he said.

Dwayne coughed out again and tried to sit up, but groaned and fell back down as he placed a hand over his sternum. "Hoooolllly cow, dude. What did you guys do, stomp on me?" he said grimacing. "I feel like I got ran over by a truck!" Xavier responded, "That's just the water in your lungs. By the way, you're welcome."

"I saw my life flash before my eyes! Just like in the movies! My Seventh Grade Math Teacher totally had it out for me, and I don't think that game I played with my Uncle as a kid was - ahhahh!"

Xavier had kicked his friend in the side. Not hard, but not gently either. "Shut up, Dwayne." And he held his hand out for him to grab. Dwayne gripped Xavier's hand with his own allowing for himself to get back on his feet more easily. Dwayne looked at his friend and gave a small nod. "Thanks, Moron." Xavier smiled and gave a slap on Dwayne's shoulder.

"Now what do we do?" Roman asked, seeing the moment was over.

"We killed one, now we kill off the rest." Xavier said in response.

"Hell yeah ... ahh man this friggin' hurts ..." Dwayne said, still dealing with the soreness he must of felt. Maybe, Xavier should leave out the part where he detonated a grenade right next to his best friend. He might take it the wrong way.

"Ajoa was working with the Plant's surveillance system. I agree, that we should eliminate the threat as quickly as possible, however rather than search around blindly it may be best to pinpoint their exact locations prior to attacking." Roman said.

"Plus, isn't Ajoa alone right now?" Dwayne said.

"She's with Terrence." Xavier said, only realizing the implications of that fact after he stated it. "... yeah, how about we regroup?"

"Let's go." said Dwayne who lead the way, only to be cut off by Roman who took point instead. They walked in a line towards the entrance near which they stopped. Roman looked at the corpse of the Xeno Xavier had just killed with intent. Xavier was not in the mood. "This is so not the time, man." he said seriously. Roman fiddled with the grip of his rifle, and looked at his feet. Dwayne walked over to where one of his swords lay and picked it up, then looked around for the other. Roman looked at the dead Xeno one last time, then without saying a word he entered the plant and walked down the hallway leading to the Control Room.

"Sheesh." Xavier said. He then looked over to Dwayne who was attempting a fruitless search for his missing weapon. "Leave it Dwayne. You look stupid swing two swords around anyway."

Dwayne shook his lone sword in front of him for Xavier to see. "These things cost me 5500 creds!" he protested.

"Then I guess you only lost half your money's worth. Come on! You can 'Reclaim' it later."

"Oh yeah, hahaha." Dwayne said sarcastically. "Bastard ..."

They both entered the Facility and met up with Roman, Terrence, and Ajoa. Roman had already told them about the three Indigens, with two of them still being alive. As the two of them entered they listened to Roman discuss the need for the surveillance system in obtaining their location. To which point, Ajoa said:

"There's a problem with that." she started. "The Security System, which includes data from the cameras and sensors, can only be accessed by the Team Leader. We need to find Ian for this." She looked at the BLADEs around her who all looked at each other uncomfortably. They hadn't gone around to explaining how they had found a Researcher's ID Card on the _inside_ of a hostile Indigen, and how they were all operating on the assumption that the Research Team members had all been eaten. In her mind they had either ran away, or were still inside the facility with her.

Roman spoke up. "Technically ... we only need his access card ..." he mumbled to himself then walked away. Before reaching the door leading back to the Reservoir he turned to the group and gave an 'excuse me' and then walked out. Xavier didn't even bother to stop him. He rubbed his forehead, thinking and not really caring what might happen to him.

"What - what -why is he leaving?" Ajoa asked.

Dwayne answered. "Oh don't worry about him, he runs off by himself all the time."

"Why...?" she asked.

"Because ... Asperger's?" Dwayne said, shrugging.

Xavier shook his head, thinking about how to get back on track. Assuming Roman was digging around inside a Xeno's stomach looking for another Access Card to use, then they might be able to establish a proper surveillance in the facility, giving them an advantage. Until then they needed to find a way to contact the rest of BLADE for assistance. The Plant's transmission system was down for some reason, and while it was down they wouldn't be able to send out or receive any word from NLA. They really were alone.

 **BLADE Tower - 2101 hrs**

"So ... you engaged a group of Hostile and Unknown Indigens, you killed one of them, scared off the rest, and to top it all off you managed to resuscitate your friend from a drowning right after freeing him from capture underwater." the Woman said.

"Something like that." Xavier said shrugging.

"You're kind of a Bad-ass, Mr. Moran."

Xavier shook his head, upon hearing that.

"Roman Perkins found Ian Parker's ID inside of the fallen Xeno, I take it?" she asked.

"Yep." Xavier said.

"How were you able to establish contact with us, then?" the Woman asked.

"Terrence was able to help with that ..."


	15. Chapter 15

**Biahno Water-Purification Plant - 1250 hrs**

"We need to get Comms. up and running, or else we're going to have to deal with these things by ourselves. Something I'm really not in the mood for ..." Xavier said.

He looked at the rest of his group. Ajoa, the unarmed Researcher. Terrence, an Engineer with little combat experience. And of course Dwayne Chambers, who was also in a vulnerable state. That left Xavier himself to deal with the brunt of any assault they might receive or give. He had fired 21 rounds so far, leaving him with nine more loaded into his Blast Cannon's magazine, and two more spare mags. with a capacity of 30, leaving him with a total of 69 shots left, and a knife, and however much Ether his Mim. could generate. Meanwhile, Dwayne still had one of his Swords, which he will struggle to use with his injuries, and two Submachine Guns, one of which was still fully loaded. Terrence had a Shield, and whatever he had brought in his pack. And Ajoa, who in this facility would be the most useful, and in the most need for protection.

Xavier looked at each of them in turn, then asked, "Soooooo? How do we accomplish this, people?"

Ajoa blinked, and replied, "oh! ... hang on a sec."

She walked over to where the Console was, underneath the Monitors, and started to access the Operating System. "Communications ...?" she muttered, looking at something on a screen. "How ...?

Xavier walked over to where she stood. He knew it was annoying as all hell to do, but they were on timeline, and he would backseat compute if he had to. He looked over her shoulder and watched as she fumbled around with various applications and files. He looked at the options she had, although in all honesty he had trouble trying to gain a sense of operating it as well. The time of Digital Automation and Accessibility was swept away along with the Destruction of Earth, and while the White Whale had hosted several Technicians and Programmers, it didn't change the fact that the Aesthetics or the Personalized Computer had been set back by about 50 years, leaving only a serious of Military and Scientific based programs and devices that often served very specific purposes. The want for something simpler and familiar was great, and many attempts at creating a more colorful OS were made. There was even a Committee made, Xavier remembered. But, with the need to start from scratch on many grounds, it was a slow process and most of the systems created were crude or impractical. So, with the exception of those whose jobs it was to deal with computers, most of the Crew and Passengers of the White Whale found other ways to entertain themselves, and the drive to bring back Microsoft, Apple, or Sony styled consoles diminished as the years passed.

"I don't suppose there's a Search Bar, on this thing?" Xavier asked, already knowing the answer.

Ajoa's eyes flicked here and there on the screen. "I'm trying to find out how to bring up the Command Prompt. I can go from there, but I don't know how to access it ..." she said questioningly.

"Command Prompt?" a voice said.

Xavier and Ajoa both turned to face the source of the voice.

"You just access it through start-up or log-in." said Terrence, who was standing away from the two.

"You know computer?" asked Xavier.

Terrence didn't say anything in response. He just looked down at his feet as if he was embarrassed about something. Ajoa was the one to break the silence. "That's right," she said, "you're supposed to access it at the beginning of your session." It looked like she was starting to remember how to solve their little problem. "If that's the case, I guess all we need to is turn it off and on again?"

"These things turn off?" Xavier said, sounding genuinely surprised. "Why?"

"Computers require energy to work, and like everything else that requires energy, they need a break every know and then." Ajoa said, bending over to reach for something underneath the platform the console lay on. A click from a button being pushed was heard, and after a few seconds the screens went blank, and a humming noise stopped. Xavier's first thought would have been that the Computer broke, but he realized that this was actually a state of a Monitor that was out of use. _Very retro_ Xavier thought. He really did feel like he was 50 years in the past.

"And now we turn it on." Ajoa continued. Another click and the humming returned, as a dim light radiated from the screens. On one of the screens a series of words and numbers appeared

with two isolated lines of text appearing at the bottom:

Unauthorized use of console software prohibited.

CS:\Users\biahno_water

password

"Password is ... 'Hydro-Five-Nine-One'. ... okay, I'm in." Ajoa said.

"Great. Now what?" Xavier asked.

"Not sure ..." Ajoa said. She typed the word "communication." and pressed the Enter key.

CS:\Users\biahno_water

password\/\/\/\/

access granted

CS:\Users\biahno_watercommunication

Syntax Error. "communication" is not a recognized command. Text a command or file path or "help" for more information.

CS:\Users\biahno_water

"Okay then ..." Ajoa sighed. She then typed in the word "help" in all capital letters, only to receive in turn a gigantic list of Commands to use as well as information regarding their purpose. Ajoa looked hard through them, scrolling up and down and viewed the hundreds of options that she had at her fingertips. After a few moments of studying, she turned to face Xavier who was still standing behind her.

"I have no idea how to do any of this." she said apologetically.

Xavier slapped his forehead in frustration. Then calmly he said, "okay, we'll try this another way. There's got to be like a maintenance room around here somewhere, right?" Xavier guessed that something was physically wrong with the facility's antenna array. With all the Indigens running around inside it could just be that something got knocked loose in the skirmish. How exactly _did_ these things get inside? Xavier wondered. There might've been some kind of breach that they didn't know about. "How do we access the antenna?" he continued.

"The maintenance room is right on top of the lounge." Ajoa said, pointing towards a door leading deeper into the plant. "This way." She began walking forward, only to be cut off once again by Dwayne. "Me first, I think." he said with a smile.

He pulled out a Submachine gun and pointed it to the door leading to the Lounge. He walked towards it and watched as it swooshed open, and then rushed inside. Keeping his weapon pointed in front of him, he scanned the room for danger. When no threat was to be found he shouted, "Room Clear!" Xavier moved in, alongside Ajoa. He then looked back to see Terrence still standing in the same spot he was in from before. "Terrence. Get in here." Xavier said, gesturing him to move.

Terrence looked toward the door leading to the Reservoir, then looked back at Xavier. "What about that other guy?" he asked. "Roman kills things for a living, don't worry about him." Xavier said. "Come on. Unless you want to stay in there by yourself." At that, Terrence moved and joined the rest of the team in the lounge.

 **BLADE Tower - 2101 hrs**

"Terrence Hunt. A Pathfinder like yourself. How did you feel about his addition to this mission?" the Woman asked.

Xavier grimaced, thinking back to how he came to be a part of his assignment. He had scouted him out on a whim, no less. With no thoughts nor concern for his safety, he pushed Terrence further. He quickly regretted his decision when they had arrived at the Plant. He watched with annoyance at how his fellow Pathfinder struggled to keep his anxieties maintained, and succumbed to a quick panic attack. But in spite of that, Terrence did prove himself to be a valuable teammate in his own way. Integrity, Intelligence, a drive to do more, and ... Bravery ... yes, Terrence had bravery. And Xavier wished that he could have seen him become a better BLADE than he himself could ever be.

"I never should have Scouted him." Xavier said.

He was dead, because of a whim.

 **Biahno Water-Purification Plant - 1256 hrs**

"Up the ladder." Ajoa said.

The Lounge room was a large, like the Control Room. Although it had a much more modest furnished. A Couch, a Table with seats around, what Xavier could only imagine to be a makeshift fridge for Cool Storage, and yes there was a series of bars leading upwards to be used as a ladder. At the top of the ladder was a Hatch that had "ELECTRICAL MAINTENANCE" taped on.

"I'll go first." Xavier said, approaching the ladder. Going hand by hand he climbed upwards, and as he neared the hatch, it slid open allowing him to enter a dark room. The ladder lead further upwards past the hatch allowing to step onto the elevated floor once he had reached a certain height. Looking around, he could see what looked like a pair of desk sized servers with a maze of thick wires coming out of the servers, like vines from a tree. He could make out the servers thanks to the lights blinking, but other than that, he couldn't make anything out in this darkness.

"Dwayne, toss up your flash!" Xavier called down to his friend, asking for his flashlight.

"Uhhh ..." Dwayne said. "I left it in my other pants. Seriously this time."

 _Oh, come on, Brother!_

"I've got a light." said the voice of Terrence.

Xavier looked down to the room below and watched as Terrence flipped his pack in front of himself and started unzipping the pouches. He pulled out a slim flashlight, then walked underneath the hatch, and tossed it up to where Xavier stood. With a 'thank you' Xavier caught it out of the air and switched it on, casting the beam into the room. "Gah!" Xavier cried out as the light revealed to him a severed Human leg lying on the floor in front of him. It was a Mimeosome prosthetic, and from the look of it it had been torn off.

"What? What'd you find?" he heard Ajoa ask.

"Don't come up here!" Xavier said sternly.

Another meal. Xavier pulled his knife out with his right hand, and with his right shone the light around the room he was in more thoroughly. One of those Xenos had definitely gotten inside of the maintenance room, as Xavier suspected. But how? He didn't see any other point of entry, aside from the access hatch. And he couldn't think of many scenarios as to why one would come in here. He looked at the leg remains again. Maybe someone was working up here and had been followed up? This was all very strange to Xavier.

Xavier's eyes flicked over to a Plastic Water Bottle that lay nearby. It had occurred to Xavier at that moment that he was incredibly thirsty ... like ... holy crap, he didn't realize someone could actually be this thirsty and not be dead ...

Xavier's heart fluttered a bit in his chest. It was funny that his Mimeosome acted in such a way. That his heart could "flutter" like that. It was the kind of feeling one would feel after being shocked or frightened. Dead ... Xavier should be dead ... he was going to die very quickly if he didn't get some water inside of his system ... what the heck was he doing? He was wasting time playing around with computers, when any moment now he was about to pass out from thirst. His lips were cracking, and his mouth was dry. It hurt. It hurt to have been going so long without water.

He gazed at the water bottle longingly. He felt dizzy, now. He didn't care that the Water Bottle had been used, and was near the remains of a corpse, he needed what little water there was left inside. He picked up the water bottle and watched the water swirl inside with arousal.

"HOLY CRAP, WHAT THE HECK?!"

Xavier jumped, in surprise. Just as he had brought the bottle to his lips Terrence had popped his head through the hatch and had spotted the remains of one of the researchers. And in Xavier's surprise to Terrence's surprise, he had dropped the water bottle he had held and watched with despair as it rolled over to the open hatch and fall into the lounge below.

Ajoa shouted as she was splashed. "Ahh! What?! What is up there?!" she said with anger in her voice. Before Xavier could stop him, Terrence replied, "there's a body up here!"

Xavier guessed that Terrence couldn't see that it was actually a single limb rather than a full body, but the damage was already done. "What?" Ajoa asked the anger gone. Now panic. "What?! Is it - is it Ian?!" she asked this loudly.

 **BLADE Tower - 2104 hrs**

"The symptoms were becoming very strong at that time." Xavier said. "Terrence saved my life right then and there."

"The water." the Woman said. "That's what triggers it. That's what these parasites make you go for, is that it?"

Xavier didn't answer, but after a few moments he nodded. He really did not want to think about what had happened to him. The gruesomeness was beginning to take hold of his compulsion again.


	16. Chapter 16

**BLADE Tower - 2104 hrs**

"How did you avoid contact with water? How is it that only you survived?" the Woman asked.

Xavier, shaking his head, replied, "maybe I shouldn't have."

"That's not what I asked, Mr. Moran." she stated, firmly. "So far, from what you've told us, Terrence Hunt wasn't exactly a traditional member of the 'A-Team', so his demise would be a simple expectation to make regardless of how unfortunate it is. But Dwayne Chambers? Roman? They were both very talented members of their divisions. There's an enormous file full fauna entries with the subtext, "Discovered by Roman Perkins." And Mr. Chambers was used to going into the Wilderness, sometimes alone, and encountering danger. Both knew how to handle themselves, and yet you were the only who made it out of there. You and your fellow Pathfinder, Mr. Hunt."

Xavier looked at the woman directly at her face. "Are you accusing me of something mam?", he asked. "Because, if you are, then you should know I really appreciate less subtext when the Prosecutor is laying on the charges." Xavier gazed at the ceiling. "I watched a lot of Court Room shows as a kid ..."

"You got the communications system working again, obviously, and then you contacted NLA to request a QRF to help deal with the Indigens at the plant. But then," she said lifting up her two index fingers, "we got another response from you. You mentioned casualties, and the request for fire support changed to a MedEvac. What happened between those two calls?"

Xavier shifted his gaze from the ceiling back to the woman's face. "Sorry, what did you say? I had the 'Law & Order' theme stuck in my head for a second there."

At that, the woman approached Xavier's chair once again. Although this time, rather than leaning towards him, she brought her foot up and pushed him causing his chair to fall backwards onto the floor with Xavier still bound to it.

She leaned over him once again and gazed down at his face which was again looking up at the ceiling, albeit somewhat by force. "Did I grab your attention, again?", she said. Xavier let out a groan in response. "Good." she said. "Let me bring you back up to speed. Four people, dead. Tell us why, now."

Xavier looked away.

"TERRENCE! AJOA! ROMAN! DWAYNE! HOW - DID - THEY - DIE?!" she shouted down at him.

Xavier decided there and then that he hated the eerie silence that was born after a loud noise died down. How did things get to a point where he was more comfortable with the sound of people shouting than anything else. When he was growing up, he often avoided places where people crowded. He hated the way they sounded, and yet now, today he found that he felt a great unrest at the absence of a person's voice. Their screams. They were still alive. That's what it meant now. And when the noises all stopped, it meant that they were gone.

"Moran."

The voice was back again.

Xavier looked back up at his interrogator's face once again. He was on the floor, tied to a chair. He could see on the woman's face something that resembled pity. Why? Wasn't this the unsympathetic method? Wasn't this supposed to be an interrogation?

"What's that look for?" he asked.

The Woman paused for a moment then said, "you're crying."

Xavier blinked, and yes, he did feel tears in his eyes.

 _Damn ..._

 **Biahno Water-Purification Plant - 1258 hrs**

"Just stay calm. And stay quiet." Xavier said to the group.

"Who?" Ajoa said, with her voice quivering. "Who is it?"

Xavier shone the flash light over at the remains. He still saw what was left of a Human leg, still wearing a pant sleeve and a shoe, and shining around further he could see bits and pieces scattered about the floor, but not nearly enough to distinguish someone's identity.

"Dwayne, take Ajoa back into the Control Room." Xavier said.

He could hear Dwayne give out a cough down below, and then he heard him say, "yeah, got it. Let's go."

Xavier didn't hear Ajoa say anything in response, but he could hear two sets of footsteps leading away into the other room. Did she freeze up under the idea that her friend was gone? Or was Dwayne really that much of a people person? Either way the inevitable meltdown that Ajoa would more than likely go through as a result of today's experiences had been delayed, allowing Xavier to focus on the issue at hand.

"Terrence, get up here." he said.

Terrence was still at the head of the ladder, but he hadn't entered the room yet, still wary of the "body" that he had seen. "Come on! Move it or lose it, man." Xavier said.

Terrence slowly rose up the ladder through the ceiling door, though he never took his eyes off of the dismembered limb that lay just a few feet from him. "Is there a light switch in here?" Xavier said, looking around the dark room. He waved his flash light around until the beam of light found a box panel, with a small flip switch sticking out of the wall next to it. Xavier pressed he switch into the "on" position and the room illuminated as the hidden lights embedded into the room's systems created a flare-less and consistent shine inside the Maintenance Chamber.

"That's better." Xavier said, nodding in approval of his own incredible ability of flipping a switch.

In the room with the two BLADEs, was a table standing against the wall next to the door in the floor, that held up some kind of technical kit and what was probably the facility's manual. Near the center of the room was a large shelf that held a series of computer servers in place, and behind these servers a vineyard of wires and cables trailed into the far wall, as they fed themselves into a dozens of outlets or holes that probably led to even more outlets. And to the side, stood a large pipe like column that extended upwards towards the top of the room which had a steep slant.

"Damn ..." Xavier said, gazing at the intimidating machines that lay in front of him. He then looked over to Terrence who was now standing in the room, shuffling around the leg in front of him. "Okay, Einstein. Where do we go from here?" Xavier asked.

Xavier meant for his query to sound condescending, however Terrence ignored him and walked over to the desk near Xavier, and flipped open the paper manual. Terrence spoke. "Well, we have the operator's manual, that should help us get started ... I guess we should start with the section listed as 'Communications.'" He flipped through the pages until he apparently reached the section of the manual that he was looking for. "Antenna ..." he muttered.

He then returned some of his attention to Xavier. "Okay, I think I might be on to something here. Look," he said, biding Xavier over, showing him a series of diagrams and text. "Looks like Server 4 is what we should be looking at. It says here that its been dedicated to communications as well as some other appliances that we don't need to deal with, I think. ... right?" He looked over to Xavier asking for clarification.

Xavier shook his head and said, "I'm giving you the lead on this, pal."

Terrence blinked, then turned back to face the manual. He coughed, then continued. "Umm, okay. Go over to Server 4m and I'll try to walk you through it from here."

"You got it. Boss." Xavier said, smiling a little.

"Try to make sure that we're the only two living things in here, please?"

"These Mims of ours aren't alive, Terrence."

Terrence looked over to where Xavier said, with a perturbed look, but then shook his head and continued looking through the manual. "It looks like we're looking for ... okay, we have two possible routes. Either something is physically wrong with the Antenna itself, or there's an improperty in the software or electrical components that relate to it. First things first, determine that the Server is active."

Xavier leaned over so that he had a proper look at Server 4. "If by 'active' you mean to ask if it's on or not, then yeah, I'd say it's active."

"Okay, that mostly rules out a electronic error. Now we determine the activity of the antenna. Near the dash, there should be a row of flashing light indicators, kind of like you'd see on one of those old Internet modems. You know what I'm talking about?"

"Dude, I grew up in poverty, I didn't have a Computer as a kid."

"Look for the words, POWER, NETWORK, ACSL, WIRELESS, all next to each other."

"Uhhhh ... okay I think I got it." Xavier said, after looking back and forth across the server panel.

"Tell me which of the Lights are on." Terrence Instructed.

"Uhh, POWER, ACSL, and ... yeah, that's it."

"Okay, so it's on, that's always good, and the cabling is still more or less intact."

"I take it that 'Network' is the one we want active, yeah?"

"Yes. The fact that the device isn't indicating the presence of an available Network, been we are not transmitting or receiving any signals. Either that means, everyone around us has stopped broadcasting, or that something is wrong with the antenna."

"I'm thinking that something's wrong with the antenna." Xavier said, trying to sound helpful.

"That's not good ..."

Terrence looked around the room, and stared at the vertical pipe. "I'm pretty sure that this antenna. I'm not sure how we're supposed to access it though. Should be somewhere in this room, but I ..." Terrence stopped speaking as he gazed upwards to the ceiling of the room. With a shaky breath he tried to say something, but when he couldn't form the words, he pointed upwards, prompting Xavier to look up as well.

Xavier's nonexistent blood froze in his nonexistent veins. It was probably a psychosomatic reaction he was experiencing as a result of discovering the large cracked open pod that was nestling up above them. What really terrified him was the fact that that despite the fact that this pod had already 'hatched', its contents still remained inside. Through the crack, Xavier could see the black, shining, and malevolent eyes gazing down at the two of them.

How long had that thing been watching them, Xavier thought to himself. Xavier pulled his knife out again. "Terrence. I need you to listen to me very carefully ..." Xavier said, until he realized that he didn't really have a plan. Terrence weakly said, "what?"

"Okay ... so .. uhh ... we need to get that antenna up and running, and we need to to so without getting whacked by our friend up their. So how about you tell me what the next step should be so we can get it done and get out of here?"

 **BLADE Tower - 2110 hrs**

"Those were your exact words?" the Woman asked.

"Yes ... or at least something along those lines ..." Xavier said mildly. He was still bound to his chair, but his interrogators were kind enough to get him off of the floor, back into a sitting position, so that he could continue his tale with a little more dignity. It didn't help Xavier's mood much, however.

"The two of you found yourselves in a confined space with a hostile Indigen, and you elected to remain in that position?"

"Yes."

"Despite knowing that it would put the two of you in danger?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I was trying to help us survive."

"By putting Terrence into the face of danger?"

"Yep." Xavier said. "And I got the antenna running, because of it."

"And Terrence?"

"He probably died because of my decision."

Xavier smiled grimly. "Terrence died, because of something I did. You can add that to the list of accusations you guys are preparing against me."


	17. Chapter 17

**Biahno Water Purification Plant - 1301 hrs**

"Terrence, get back to the manual and tell me the next step in the sequence!" Xavier said quietly but sternly.

Terrence looked over at Xavier with disbelief upon his face, and his legs began to quiver as fear formed its dementative grip over Terrence's flesh. They were now in a closed spaced along with a dangerous creature that had previously taken part in the massacring and consumption of the inhabitants of the facility. So naturally, Terrence was scared for his safety. Unfortunately, Xavier didn't find a sense of insecurity to be a productive quality in a comrade, so he attempted to motivate his friend to focus on the task at hand.

"Terrence, you need to focus. Focus, please. Don't think about, don't talk about it, just do whatever needs to be done." Xavier said. He added, "I've got your back, brother.", trying to sound at least somewhat encouraging.

Terrence looked as if he was on the verge of another anxiety attack. He wasn't blinking, giving off the impression that he was staring off blankly at nothing in particular, and his posture had a strange mixture of stiffness and limpness, as if he was using the majority of his internal energy to keep himself from moving as little as possible, but with the implication that the introduction of an outside force would cause him to readily submit and collapse in defeat.

Regardless, Terrence dutifully turned, without looking upwards to where the creature sat perched, back to the technical manual that still lie open on the small desk. After some hesitation, Terrence spoke.

"We ... we ...", he paused to clear his throat, "using the antenna's access panel we check on its individual components and run through a series of troubleshoots."

Terrence slowly looked over to the column that segmented into the wall, and after eyeing the section he turned to face his safe and familiar manual again. A coping mechanism? Xavier supposed, that to some, books were seen as a symbol of solace and comfort. He remembered, that as a child, he spent much time purveying the libraries of his home reading old books that told such exciting and meaningless stories. The manual was not such a book, of course. It didn't contain a narrative to follow. It simply had a series of instructions and guidelines regarding the equipment in the room they were in. But perhaps, to Terrence, that was a source of comfort. The gravity of the mission often provides a distraction from the grievances of reality. And in this situation, perhaps finding your way through a manual can be a source of comfort?

These were the thoughts and explanations that grew in Xavier's head as he watched Terrence manage to keep his cool under the pressure. Xavier couldn't blame him, of course. Even he felt the sensation of something blunt and heavy hanging above his head ready to fall. But he knew that it was a false and artificial sensation. Would it make things better if he tried to explain this to Terrence? Or would it aggravate him like it seems to for so many others?

Xavier never got around to making a decision, as his train of thought was interrupted by Terrence speaking once more with a quiet voice. "Open the panel ... it's near the base of the antenna ..." He meekly spread out his left arm, in an attempt to point in the general direction of the column that Xavier assumed encased the Facility's communication antenna. And yes, near the base at about chest level, there was a box shaped indentation that looked like the door on a fuse box. Slowly, Xavier approached the access panel, trying not to gain any more attention from the terror from on high than he already had.

The panel was held by a spring action mechanism, meaning that anyone who wanted to open it would press inwards causing the mechanism inside to detach and unhook from its frame, and the spring would then push the panel outward, causing it to pop out then slide out of the way on a little railing. A simple design, really. Someone would probably see it on a line of Children's Toys. Xavier understood just fine, how the panel door worked. This part was alright. What was not so fine, was what he saw underneath the exterior. A curtain of cables, a palette of plugs, a labyrinth of levers. They weren't so much levers, as they were switches, but Xavier wanted to maintain a sense of alliteration as he processed the mess of electrical equipment that he was seeing.

"Access panel open." Xavier said, trying to keep a professional tone with his fellow BLADE member.

Terrence spoke, although with the slightly extended distance between the two of them, Xavier was unable to interpret his attempt at communication as anything more than him mumbling underneath his breath.

Xavier swallowed, then said, "Try using words, bud."

Terrence inhaled through his nose, then he repeated his words just a little louder. "Check the switch labeled 'MAIN', to see if it's off or -"

"It's on." Xavier said, cutting Terrence off.

"Okay ..." Terrence continued. "Looks like this system is mostly Digital, so I guess the next thing you should try is turning it off and on again."

"All righty." Xavier said reaching for the switch labeled with a piece of tape with the word MAIN.

"Unless of course the problem is Human Error ..."

Xavier's hand froze. "Okay ... and what do we do about that?" he asked inquisitively.

"It's ... our problem might have been caused by someone ... or something."

Terrence didn't look up, but Xavier could sense the subtle hints in his voice and posture. He was suggesting that maybe the failure of the antenna was somehow related to the presence of the Indigen that hung above them.

Xavier dared not to look at it directly at its face, lest he may provoke it into attacking. But he did allow himself to gaze at the area around the exposed pod, to see what "problems" could have been the result of the hostile Indigen's choice of a roost. He wasn't really sure what it was he was supposed to be looking for, and even if he did the method of finding it was inhibited by his tactic of gazing upwards with peripheral alone. They created the Mimeosome in such a way that you could feel the dull strain in your eyes whenever they rolled in a direction they did not typically go, just like the real thing. But this wasn't a time for Xavier to be fascinated by the authenticities of his artificial body, he needed to get the antenna running.

Then again, maybe he was skipping steps?

There was a an evil thing that needed killing standing in their way. Even if they knew what to do with the antenna it didn't change the fact that their friend up above was an obstacle that would prevent that from making any repairs. Plus, it would be easier to just be done with it.

"Okay, change of plan. Let's put this guy to sleep." Xavier said bluntly, directing his attention towards Terrence once again.

Terrence flinched, and his words fell out with a quiet gasp. "What?!", he exclaimed.

"You heard me. Pop out your shield and your sidearm, we're going to need it," Xavier pulled out his knife while saying this, "we gotta do this quick and clean to reduce any damage inside this room."

Terrence just stared at Xavier. " ... what?!", he exclaimed again.

"Keep up, please, won't you?" Xavier said. "Take your gun, and put some brass in its eye. I'm gonna cut its throat open when it hops down."

"Are you serious, right now?!" Terrence whispered, seeming to be against the idea. He did take his pistol out however.

"Take a deep breath, and do it." Xavier said. "This'll be over before you know it."

Terrence hesitated for a moment, and finally he pointed his Sidearm upwards.

"Son of a bitch ..." Terrence said, under his breath.

Terrence didn't fire a single shot, as Xavier suggested. Instead he fired multiple times up into the open pod that acted as a poor shelter for the exposed Indigen. The bullets stung the creatures body, and shook itself, like a person waking up from their rest. And then it screamed. Pain and anger in its voice shook the room.

The creature's roar shook Terrence as well, causing him to cease fire.

Seeing his hesitation, Xavier barked orders. "KEEP FIRING TERRENCE! DON'T STOP!"

Terrence yelled, and continued to fire until the clip in his gun was empty, and even then it took a few pulls of the trigger before he realized that noting was coming out except a dry clicking noise. Following whatever firearm training Terrence went through, he pressed a button to allow the empty magazine to slide out of the grip into his free hand. Then he used this same to reach into a pouches where spare magazines were held, placing the empty one he held into a vacant pouch, and reaching to pull out a fresh one, all in a quick though somewhat clumsy motion.

He never got around to completing his reload, as around the same time the empty magazine magazine slid out of Terrence's weapon, the monster that hung above their heads slid out of its pod, and hit the floor with a wet _smack,_ between the two Pathfinders.

Terrence yelped and hopped back, hitting the small of his back into the edge of the table behind him. The Tech Manual was knocked off , and fell to the floor. Xavier however, not waiting for a better opportunity, pounced onto the fallen Indigen and thrust his knife past its jaw and into its neck.

Like what happened at the Water Reservoir, the Indigen responded to the sudden intrusion of its flesh by lashing out and bucking back towards Xavier in an attempt to throw him off. This time, Xavier knew what to expect from his adversary, and in anticipation he channeled the Ether in his Mimeosome outwards in an attempt to keep the beast pinned down to the floor. He was fighting a lost cause, unfortunately, due to his inability to balance his attempt to hold his enemy down, and attempt to get a good angle to use his knife in a more lethal manner.

He called to Terrence for assistance. "Terrence!" The creature tried to lift itself off of the ground, and Xavier felt himself being pushed back into the Servers. He felt the servers at his back begin to lean dangerously close to a tipping point, forcing Xavier to release his knife and throwing as much force he could muster into bring the creature back down.

"Terrence hold the bastard down!" Xavier half shouted and half groaned.

Terrence's hands were shaking which was delaying his attempt at reloading his Sidearm considerably. "TERRENCE, DO IT!" Xavier screamed. Xavier thought he could feel something on his body tearing, but he dared not to release his hold on the Monster, for fear that it would harm his friend and the equipment.

Terrence abandoned his pistol, and instead pulled out his collapsible shield. A light shone out from Terrence, and his shield folded apart forming his defensive device. Terrence's first move, to Xavier's disapproval, was to hold his shield in front of himself and shove the Indigen back. Xavier found his efforts to be somewhat inhibited as he felt his back reunite with the servers behind him. Xavier shouted his orders in frustration. "Dammit, Terrence! Hold it down! HOLD IT DOWN!"

Understanding, finally, Terrence brought the edge of his shield down onto the creature's back and threw his own body-weight into, pushing the monster down and giving Xavier a well needed reprieve. Now that he had a better opening, Xavier snatched his knife which still protruded from the creature's neck. With his knife returned to his hand, Xavier brought himself near to his foe's face, so he could get a better shot at a fatal spot.

 _Oh dear God, this thing's breath ..._ Xavier thought as he smelled the air that escaped the Indigen's black mouth. While fighting the beast and his own nausea, Xavier spotted the soft part at the base of the creature's throat, and stabbed into it.

It seemed that Xavier wasn't the only one capable of learning. Almost as if the Indigen was expecting his attack, Xavier found that his 'stab' attempt was diverted as the Indigen let its weight drop right on top of Xavier's arm, pinning Xavier with its chest alone. And to make matters worse? As the Indigen dropped Terrence apparently didn't follow it downwards in a perfect synchronization, so it now had a small gap to work with, and it broke free of both the grip that Xavier and Terrence had on it.

Xavier was pushed away, and found himself sliding across the floor, and the Indigen was now standing on its legs and two of its forearms. Terrence was also standing, and maybe because of that the beast decided to lunge for him first. Terrence had the sense to keep his shield up in front of himself, protecting him, but it didn't stop him from being flung off of his feet and into the wall behind him. Before Terrence touched the ground again the Monster was already on him again.

Xavier could hear Terrence screaming in pain, as the monster held the BLADE's arms out and pecked at his chest, biting into him. Anger and rage filled Xavier's mind as he watched his friend suffer at the hands of this abominable malefactor, and before he could even think about it, Xavier flew off his feet and pounced again onto the Indigen, in an attempt to pry off the grip it had on Terrence.

Xavier yanked at the creature's massive arms and pounded at its face with his fists, but the only response it gave was to tighten its grip and sink its teeth deeper into Terrence's flesh. Terrence yelled in pain and screamed obscenities as his situation worsened.

Panicking, Xavier looked for Terrence's fallen pistol, and spotted laying not two feet away from where the three fighters stood in a morbid huddle. Xavier bent over to pick up both the gun and the magazine full of ammunition. He slid the clip into the grip of the gun, and then pulled back on the sliding mechanism to allow the pistol to fall into place. Now that it was reloaded, Xavier pointed the barrel of the gun at the creature's head, and shouted, "SCREW YOOOOUUU!", and pulled the trigger repeatedly.

With the creature's head being so close to Terrence's central body, Xavier couldn't say for certain how safe this maneuver was, but he was certain that it defeated the alternative of letting his comrade's thorax being ripped out. Several loud popping sounds, and flashes of fire exploded out of the weapon as the bullets were released. He kept firing until, once again, the pistol was emptied, and once it was Xavier resumed his method of hitting the beast in the head, only this time focusing on the series of wounds that had been created.

The Indigen finally got the message, and with a groan it released Terrence and slumped to the floor in a heap. Xavier wasn't done with it yet however. He retrieved his Knife, and brought it over the Indigen where it lay with the tip pointed downwards. Giving into his anger, Xavier brought it down into the chest of his foe and continued to stab at its body repeatedly. And when that no longer satisfied him, he began to hack away, as if the knife he wielded was a sword. He ignored all else around him, focusing only on the blood and flesh that came out with his knife as his slashes arced out or another swing.

It took a few moments, but Xavier finally realized that his name was being called. He was panting from all the energy he was exerting, and his knife hand was numb from the tight grip he had on his weapon. He turned to face Terrence, who sat slumped against the wall. Xavier could see that his comrade had several abrasions and rips in the front of his outfit, where the beast had pierced him. His face also shown signs of tears from his eyes, but if he had been crying, he wasn't anymore. He seemed to be all right, Xavier thought.

"Your Comm. Device ..." , was all that Terrence said.

And lastly, Xavier heard the chirping noise that came from one of his pouches. He was being contacted. Like a fool Xavier initially thought wildly that communications with the facility had been restored, but then he looked to see that he was getting a call Dwayne Chambers, who more than likely was curious about all the ruckus he and Ajoa must have been hearing in the other room.

Xavier answered the call, and a Holographic Screen popped out of his device to display Dwayne's face.

" _Why, hello there Sunshine."_ , said Dwayne's stupid face. _"Since you finally decided to pick up, I guess I can take that as a sign that you're still kicking. So how are things? You having a little party? Do you need me to come over and break some ice?"_

"Party's over, we're both fine." Xavier said, catching his breath.

" _Well, good. Ajoa was getting a little worried about you. God knows why."_

"What, you weren't?"

" _For you? Nah. ... how's Terrence?"_

Xavier looked over to Terrence again. Nothing seemed to have really changed with him. At the very least he was still breathing.

Xavier spoke again. "He's fine, like I said."

Xavier heard Ajoa's voice coming from his Com. Device next. She sounded scared.

" _Please,"_ Xavier heard her say, _"please, can we just get out of here? I don't know how much more of this I can take ..."_

" _Are you any closer to getting the comms up and running?"_ Dwayne asked.

"It's a work in progress." Xavier said, "Just sit tight, we'll be out of here before you know it, out."

Xavier switched his Comm. Device off, and then he realised that he was still death straddling the corpse of the Indigen that he had just killed. Not seeing any other benefit in staying in that position any longer he decided to return to his feet and give the corpse a good kick before approaching Terrence.

Xavier held a hand out for Terrence where he sat. "Come on, Brother. We still got a job to do."

"Do you do this kind of thing often?" Terrence asked. He accepted Xavier's hand and allowed himself to be raised up.

"A lot of Pathfinder work isn't just scouting new terrain an planting beacons. You run into a lot of trouble out in the wild. Surely you've been in a combat situation, before?"

"Not like this. Not up so close ..." Terrence said, staring at the dead Indigen.

"You all right? Are you in pain at all?"

"I don't even know what to feel right now." Terrence said bringing his hands up to his ears.

"Look, Terrence -"

Again, Xavier's Comm. Device started chirping again, signaling that he was receiving a call from someone. He looked and once again he read the name DWAYNE CHAMBERS, indicating that the Reclaimer was calling him not even a minute after their last conversation.

Xavier answered the call. "What?", he asked, but was surprised when he heard shouting on the other end.

" _GET BACK, GET BACK!"_ Dwayne's voice shouted over the Comms.

"Dwayne?!" Xavier shouted back. "What's your status?"

" _AH CRAAAP ... GET ... ARUAOGH! RUN, JUST RUN!"_

Xavier's heart began racing once again, and he said over the Comms., "I'm on the freaking way, Dwayne, just hold on!"

He looked over at Terrence who was beginning to shake to attention. But before he could say or do anything Xavier issued a command.

"Stay here, Terrence, and focus on getting this antenna back online."

"Wha-"

"JUST DO IT!" Xavier yelled, not having the patience to do with to deal with much more than he already had. "I don't care what you have to do. Get the antenna working again and call for help, that is your priority. Good luck."

And then Xavier picked up his Knife and reached the ladder and slid down into the Lounge Room.


	18. Chapter 18

**Biahno Water Purification Plant - 1306 hrs**

"Dammit dammit dammit."

This was Xavier's new mantra, he thought as he slid down the ladder leading into the Electrical Maintenance Room above the Facility's lounge room. When his feet touched the floor of the room, he picked up his Blast Cannon where it was leaning up against the wall. He had left it below, knowing that it wouldn't be effective in such a confined space.

But now, his gun was back in his hands and he had no reason not to rush to the aid of his friend.

As he approached the doorway leading back into the Control Room, he called out. "Entering the room, sit tight!" The door slid open, but before it opened all the way, Xavier squeezed through the gap, not willing to wait the extra half a second.

He held his weapon pointed in front of him scanning the room for any threats, but there lying in the center of the room, was his friend. What Xavier saw made him pause, and he felt himself go cold.

"Dwayne ..."

 **BLADE Tower - 2114 hrs**

"Dwayne Chambers. A Reclaimer. How'd he die?" the woman interrogating Xavier asked.

And Xavier just shivered. He couldn't answer. He couldn't think back to what happened.

"Were the two of you close?" asked the Woman.

" ... sure." was all Xavier could say in response.

"How did he die?" she asked again.

Xavier opened his mouth, and when he did a sound like a hiccup came out. It was an adorable noise, that made him feel even more pathetic than he already did. He was not going to cry. On his life, he swore that he would never cry. Not over something like this. His father had taught him that much while he was still around, and it was something Xavier had taken to heart.

Xavier swallowed, causing the lump in his throat to wobble and throb.

"Not well." Xavier said at first, and suddenly he screamed "WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE?!"

The two guards who were in the room, with Xavier in the Woman, jumped, and gripped their rifles as they were brought to attention by Xavier's sudden outburst. Xavier swore, and struggled against his restraints as the Woman watched and waited for him to calm down.

After about a minute Xavier finally ceased his attack on the restraints that bound him to his chair. He panted from the exertion, and he felt the emotions of rage, grief, and guilt tumble and twist through the vacancies of his mind. Xavier shook and hated himself as he once again felt tears building behind his eyelids.

"They were attacked." Xavier said monotonously. The amount of effort it took to keep his emotions at bay was probably enough to bring him into a fit of dementia. He didn't know how he was still functioning. Maybe he wasn't? Maybe this was all just a dream. "Dwayne and Ajoa were attacked in the Plant's control room. Dwayne he ... he tried to fight one of the indigens off. ..."

 _Dammit_ Xavier thought to himself.

 **Biahno Water Purification Plant - 1306 hrs**

This was the second time in the last ten minutes that Xavier had seen a Human leg that was unattached to the rest of its body. Only this time he could see who it had belonged to.

"Dwayne ..." Xavier said.

He felt cold, as he saw his friend laying there on the floor with his right leg torn off. At the separation, Xavier could see bio-mechanical components and the Mimeosome's blue lubricant occasionally squirting out of the "wound", in an eerily similar fashion to the way blood escapes through a gash in an artery.

Dwayne grunted in pain, which Xavier was certain there must be a considerable amount. One of the primary functions of the Mimeosome was to bring about a state of physical sensation to the user's consciousness. Pain, of course, is an almost fundamental part of these sensations. Pain was useful in more ways than one, as in addition to helping to maintain the illusion of normality in a person's daily life, the crew of the _White Whale_ would receive a feeling of discomfort that would be isolated to the area of distress in their artificial bodies to help relieve themselves of whatever problems that they may have and prevent any further damage from occurring to their valuable vessels.

There was one incident, a few months before the crash, where a crew mate with software access had managed to deliberately disable the "pain transmitter" in their Mim.

Apparently they went about five days of a pain free life before they noticed that the synthetic flesh on their feet was starting to slough off.

They lost their access privileges.

But now Xavier, stood in front of Dwayne's maimed body thinking in a panic of alleviating his friend of his pain. Xavier had "medical training" as the training course instructors had called it. Xavier was at least somewhat familiar with the basic functions of the Mimeosomes and after a tedious 4 hour class he was given the access codes that allowed him to fiddle around with another BLADE's sensory receptors. With their permission of course.

"Give me your access key!" Xavier said, pulling out his Comm. Device.

"ARGH! Crap ... " Dwayne could only groan in response and clutch at his hip near where his leg had been gruesomely torn off. Xavier looked at his fallen friend with his mouth hanging open dumbly. He had never seen anyone injured like this. He had heard plenty of stories from his fellow Pathfinders, of fellow BLADEs that had been ripped to pieces while walking in and out of the jungle. No one ever talked about these incidents for long, and Xavier could now sympathize with them. As he stared at the injury he saw how the "muscles" moved and flexed. Theor animations looked so real. So _human_.

For the first time in a while Xavier felt that sensation of vertigo people got when they came to the realization that they weren't really there. Only this time this feeling came at him, projected like some nauseating force from Dwayne Chambers. It was a doll, Xavier thought to himself. He was looking at a broken doll that couldn't possibly be called human.

"Shitttt ..." Dwayne hissed.

That kind of brought back into the game. "Come on, brother! Give me your access key, so I can put your leg to sleep!" Xavier said with more composure than he probably had.

"NO!" Dwayne cried. He pointed down towards the hallway that led to the main entrance. "Get to the scientist! She's ... in trouble ... agh bastard leg ..." Dwayne started panting.

"God dammit!" Xavier said, hesitating. And then, he remembered that his Comm. Device had another use. He pressed the key to dial his teammate Roman. He saw that the call had gone through to Roman's Comm. Device and Xavier started shouting.

"ROMAN! DO YOU COPY?!"

No response.

Xavier began to panic, as he began to feel alone and forced into a difficult decision between his friend and the civilian that needed protection.

"Roman? Roman are you there? This is the Control Room, we've got a man down!"

Again, no response.

"ROMAN PICK UP THE DAMN PHONE!" Xavier screamed into the microphone on his device, losing his patience.

"JUST GO!" Dwayne said, shouting himself. "Do your friggin' job Moron ..."

Xavier looked down at the pitiful display of his friend. He didn't know what to feel at this presentation of their mortalility. Dwayne couldn't die, not like this. Not like some animal. Xavier couldn't let that happen to his friend. Duty be damned.

Xavier shivered, as he saw the look that Dwayne was giving him. It was weak. Xavier saw that a part of Dwayne had given up, if only a little bit of himself. He was resigned to the thought that he might be shutting down today. _Leave me_ Dwayne's eyes said. _Save her_ is what he probably would have said if he could think properly.

Another wave of coldness swept over Xavier as he felt his feet turn, and his legs start to move towards the door to where Ajoa had run. He had chosen the mission, and he couldn't help but feel that he would end up regretting it. And he ran. Xavier ran towards the danger away from the fear, all inorder to make sure that the civilian under their care did not meet her end.

Xavier would kill every indigen he saw in this building.


	19. Chapter 19

**Biahno Water-Purification Plant - 1308 hrs**

The restroom that the team had first encountered Ajoa was empty. It didn't look like she had tried to hide in here again, Xavier thought. And so the only thing he could do was to keep running forward, as fast as his legs would take him. He swung the Blast Cannon left and right in front of him, in order to keep the momentum in his body going. He was approaching the main entrance now, and he thought that he could sense movement on the other side.

As Xavier reached the entrance, the automated doors slid open revealing the wide cloud covered sky, the series of pods scattered about on the platform leading towards the doorway, and in the midst of them he saw another large four armed monster pinning a screaming Ajoa to the ground.

"Ajoa!" Xavier shouted.

"IAN! HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!" Ajoa screamed in frantic response. She was desperate, and she was in danger.

Xavier felt his weapon prime up for a shot and pointed his Blast Cannon towards the back of the beast, right between where its shoulder plates would have been. The electrically charged round shot out at high speed and struck Xavier's target causing the beast to slump forward.

It didn't remain vulnerable for very long of course. Why would it? Things have been terrible so far, and the battlefield on this planet loves consistency. It flexed upwards and after a split-second of recuperation it turned towards its attacker and gave Xavier the biggest and nastiest roar a creature that size could make.

Xavier responded in kind, with another shot in the creature's mouth.

It spun away from the pain it was probably feeling, and it made a short sprint away from Xavier and off of Ajoa. With the researcher clear, Xavier continued his dash over to Ajoa's side.

Xavier shook her in an attempt to get her out of her panicked state.

"Hey, you need to get back inside. You get me?" Xavier said.

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod ...!" Ajoa squealed.

The creature was spinning around and thrashing about all while making coughing-like sounds, as it tried to rage away the discomfort and hopefully extremely painful feelings it was experiencing. Xavier knew that they wouldn't have long before it tried something against them again, and Xavier didn't have it in him to fight the beast and protect the civilian at the same time.

Xavier released his gun with his left hand, and used it to grab Ajoa by one of her arms by the shoulder, and forcibly get her to stand up on her own two feet.

"Go! Right now! Hide in the bathroom!", he said.

Ajoa made two half-hearted steps in the direction of the facility, before she froze up again.

Xavier didn't need to provide any encouragement however, as the beast regained its composure and made another charge towards the two humans.

"RUN, GET MOVING! GO GO GO GO GO!" Xavier screamed, and started popping shots at the charging beast.

The sounds that the beast made, and probably the gunshots, were all Ajoa needed to hear as she took off through the doors, where she would hopefully be safe from any further harm.

Xavier didn't have cause to feel the same way. His shots seemed to have the same effect as bee stings, and the beast was closing ground between them fast. Xavier tossed aside his Blast Cannon and he tried to roll off to his side out of the creature's path before it slammed him. It didn't work out entirely, as Xavier made his roll, he felt the monster swipe with one its arms at Xavier causing him to spiral outwards and bang his head against the floor.

Xavier saw lights flash from behind his eyes, and for a short second the world seemed to to have a static filter, as his vision suffered from the blunt force to his head. His vision was quickly taken up by the raging indigen making another approach, with the chances of success being completely certain.

Xavier reflexively reached for his knife with his right hand, and with his free left hand he reached out in front of him in an attempt to shield himself. He felt the beast crash into his extended arm, pressing him towards the ground and grabbing at him. With determination, Xavier allowed his opponent to get closer to him, and with a clean shot at the creature's face, Xavier stabbed into the eyes that were full of such malice that they couldn't be of nature.

"JUST DIE, YOU BITCH!", Xavier groaned, feeling himself lose his leverage against the beast pressing down on him.

Incredibly, the beast didn't seem to pay a great heed to the knife jabbing into its face. It wanted Xavier dead just as much as Xavier wanted the same for it. Xavier tried to use his legs to push the monster off of him, but he could already feel him losing this match in strength. He didn't have enough Ether in his body built up to do anything about it, and by the time he did he would surely be dead.

 _Screw this_

Xavier dropped the knife, and replaced it with his second Hand Grenade.

 _Screw all of this_

He thumbed the trigger to prime the explosive that he held, and started to count to 'ten' inside of his head.

 _You want me dead. I want you dead. So I'll give us both._

 _Ten ... Nine-_

Automatic gunfire blasted through the calmness that was starting to cloud Xavier's consciousness. Someone was firing an assault rifle at the creature that had practically defeated him. His first thoughts were of reinforcements sent in from BLADE HQ in NLA. But them he recalled a certain teammate of his here at the plant that was equipped with an Assault Rifle. Roman had come to save the day?

The beast loosened its assault to turn his attention to this new presence. This allowed Xavier some new freedom of movement and he turned to look at his potential rescuer.

It was Roman. He was strafing around the Indigen and peppering it with gunfire from his rifle, obtaining its rage-induced attention.

The grenade.

Xavier remembered the grenade that he still held, and felt himself start to panic a little. How many seconds had passed? It didn't matter, he could already feel the grenade start to heat up in his fingers telling him it was time for him to let go. Xavier didn't throw it away as was the protocol, instead thinking of still killing the monster that had maimed his friend.

He set the grenade down between the Indigen's feet and scrambled away as fast as he could go.

"GRENADE GRENADE GRENADE!"

Xavier shouted in an attempt to warn Roman of the incoming explosion. Roman tensed up as he saw the grenade, and realized the new and unexpected danger that was in front of him. Had Xavier spoken up two seconds sooner, Roman may have had the time to get to cover, but it seemed that no one would go through this mission unscathed today.

The grenade _popped_ and created a blast of air and heat that broke the Indigen on top of it into a confetti of bone and gore, and Xavier felt a sensation that could be described as being hit by a truck. He was fortunate enough to already be near the ground, so his bodily surface area was barely exposed to the huge force of the explosion. He was pushed and he rolled away in a daze. His ears ringing and new pains blossoming all over his body.

Roman, who was standing upright and unawares, went through a similar experience. He had the greater distance between himself and the grenade, which was fortunate. Had he been closer he would of certainly been killed, as his posture left him completely exposed, and the force of the explosion crashed into his front knocking him off his feet.

...

Xavier lay there on his belly for a minute or so before he felt that he had strength enough to roll over on his back.

Progress.

He hurt. He should be dead. He should apologize to Dwayne. But, then again, Dwayne had several gallons of water to shield him from the blast of that first grenade.

"Ow." Xavier said weakly.

He could barely hear his own voice. The Mimeosomes had a neat little feature that allowed sound to be regulated as it was received. Large sounds, like the noise of a Grenade going off less than, what, four meters away? They could cause your Mim to automatically lower the amount of noise that you would personally hear, allowing you to focus on a given task or assignment as the world around you was falling apart. It's cheaper than ear-plugs.

Actually, no, it's probably not.

Xavier took out his Comm. Device, which had remarkably survived the blast despite being in one of his left pouches that was closest to the blast. He flipped it on, and switched to the program that allowed him to monitor his Mim's biometrics.

He was alive.

He had multiple lacerations, pretty much everywhere, with the greatest amount of damage being in a concentration near the upper left of his main body. But as far as things had been going today, he was in really good shape. He rebooted his 'ears' causing them to pop in his head, and listened as the sounds of his environment were heard normally. And with some effort on his part, Xavier stood up and walked over to where Roman lay.

He was also alive.

His BLADE jacket was in tatters, though, and it looked like he had wiped his face with sandpaper. Roman blinked slowly and looked up at Xavier standing over him. For some strange reason this interaction felt awkward to Xavier.

"Hey ...", said Xavier.

"Hello." Roman responded in kind.

"..." Xavier had nothing else to say, so he simply offered a hand to Roman, which he accepted allowing himself some assistance in returning to his feet once more. With a one of Roman's arms wrapped on his shoulders, Xavier began to lead the both of them back into the main facility. Those pods were still out there with them, and Xavier didn't feel like sticking around outside on the off-chance that one of them popped out another hostile Xeno.

"Did you get my message?"

"... yes, I heard you." Roman said, quietly.

"Did you see Dwayne? Is he fine?"

"He lost a leg ..."

"Is he alive?"

"Yes, for now."

 _Thank God_

He had put it out of his head for Ajoa's sake, but now that things were starting to slow down again, Xavier was beginning to remember how concerned he felt for Dwayne's life. They had both come so far together these last few weeks working towards their Skell Licenses and above all Dwayne Chambers was undoubtedly the greatest friend Xavier had ever had. He couldn't think of losing him when he could do something to stop it. Above all, Xavier was feeling angry. Angrier than the time the crew of the White Whale got the news that the Earth had been destroyed. Why were they being pushed so hard, just to live? Xavier felt his legs moving faster through the hallway, towards the Control Room.

"Probably wouldn't need to be asking, if you had stuck around. Now that I've got ya with me, you mind telling me what was so important that you needed to walk off on your own?" Xavier asked.

Roman grunted, either as a means to show that he heard his teammate or because it simply hurt for him to reach inside of his jacket. For the second time, he pulled out another I.D. Card covered in flecks of blood and flesh.

"It was important ...". Roman handed over the card to Xavier, and Xavier saw what made it so "important".

"Dammit." Xavier said.

The card belonged to the obviously dead Ian Parker.

 **BLADE Tower - 2114 hrs**

The woman continued on as Xavier relayed his story.

"So Chambers was down. Injured, and incapacitated. You had saved the survivor you found, and then you made the assumption that the research team leader, Ian Parker, was 'obviously dead'."

Xavier had his eyes closed at this point. He was starting to find that visual stimulus wasn't helping with his stress level. Now if only he could find a way to shut off his ability to hear this woman talking at him like he was some child.

"Yeah, pretty much.", Xavier said. "And I can assure you it was no assumption. Not for very long at least."

"Is that so?", she said.

"Unfortunately." Xavier affirmed. "And you got another thing wrong. I didn't 'save' Ajoa. Not in any sense of the word. Ajoa was already a dead woman walking, and we didn't stop it."

Xavier opened his eyes, as if to expose himself to the bare truth that was in front of him.

"I didn't stop it ..."


	20. Chapter 20

**Biahno Water-Purification Plant - 1313 hrs**

"Oh God, Oh God. I just- no ..." Ajoa said weakly.

Xavier and Roman found her, once again, locked up inside the hallway bathroom where the team had first discovered her. The Pathfinder and the Curator had both managed to convince her to exit the room in order for everyone to regroup back at the Control Room where Dwayne lay clutching at what remained of his maimed leg. Terrence was also there, doing two things, guarding him and attempting to contact BLADE HQ. He had done all he could with the antennae, allowing a transmission to finally get through, but the damage done in the maintenance room had ruined any chance of getting audio to or from the outside, leaving them with the option of texting outwards and hoping that someone was watching their screen.

With the five of them all together, Xavier explained to everyone present that the Indigen that had attacked Dwayne and Ajoa had been eliminated, and that Roman had found the I.D. card that would allow them to access the Facility's security features. The down-side to this piece of good news was that the card belonged to the head researcher Ian Parker, and it had been retrieved from within one of the bodies of the indigens that they had killed at the water reservoir.

The implications of this did not sit well with Ajoa, who had been operating under the hope that, her friend Ian Parker, was still alive.

"How did this all happen?", she said distraught. "Everything was going so well, up till now. But today? I wake up and it's all gone and twisted. I don't ..."

At this point, Dwayne would have put a hand on the woman's shoulder, say a kind word or two as a means to console her. But he was indisposed, so everyone just remained around her in an uncomfortable silence as the trauma continued to waft over her.

"I have a returned text.", Terrence said.

"Thank you, Christ ..." Dwayne said weakly. The nerves in his leg had been switched off, shutting out any pain that he should be feeling, but the mental experience of having a missing limb was not a pleasant one.

"Read it to us, Terrence." Xavier said.

"Sayram Lake B.C. is patching my S.O.S. through to HQ." Terrenced sighed with relief. "I think we might be in the clear."

"Yeah, not yet we're not." Xavier said. "Not until we're back home safe. As soon as HQ responds, send the request for fire support so that our guys can come and and smoke whatever's left in here."

"Roger that."

Dwayne nudged Terrence in the knee, with a nod of his head. "Nice work, man."

"Thanks." Terrence said, with a small smile.

Ajoa was growing more and more delirious.

"My friends are dead! Eaten by monsters!", she cried. "I was just speaking to them last night! And now they're dead."

"You've established that, thank you. I'm sure we'll have a fine funeral for their destroyed mimeosomes." Xavier said, not really caring to hide the annoyance he was starting to feel.

"Dude!" Dwayne said, with surprise and anger in his voice.

Xavier only shrugged in response.

Ajoa responded by walking up to him, and showering him in a barrage of hits and slaps wherever she could get them in.

"SCREW YOU! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THE HECK THIS IS DOING TO ME?! DO YOU REALIZE THAT I CAN'T EVER COME BACK FROM THIS, YOU BASTARD?!"

Her hits were so weak, that Xavier didn't really feel the need to counter at first, but you can only get jabbed in the ear so many times before you lose the ability to control yourself anymore. And after the absolutely crappy day that he's been having, he was already pissed off to begin with.

Xavier grabbed both of Ajoa's arms by the wrists to stop her from hitting him further. As she struggled to pull out of his grip on her, Xavier spoke in as calm a voice as he could muster.

"I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry you lost your friends. It happens. I don't know what else you want me to say. But going on and on about how they're dead and how sad that is isn't going to make things any better for you or for anyone else. You gonna stop hitting me, now?"

"LET GO! LET GO OF ME, RIGHT NOW, LET GO!" Ajoa screamed, completely out of it at this point. She was frantic, and trying with all of her might to pull free from Xavier's grip on both of her arms. She kicked and thrashed, and she would have even bitten at Xavier a couple of times if he had let her. "I'm not gonna let go of you, until you agree to calm the hell down!" Xavier grunted, with his own anger in his voice. Ajoa managed to get a good strong kick into his shin, finally hurting him enough for him to care.

Xavier grunted, and in anger and shouted back in her face. "YOU THINK THAT'S MY LEG THAT YOU JUST KICKED?! IT WASN'T. IT WAS JUST METAL AND PLASTIC. LOOK AT DWAYNE IF YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT YET! YOU'RE 'FRIENDS' THAT 'DIED' WERE JUST NUTS AND BOLTS, AND SO - ARE - YOU!"

"Moran, let her go." Roman said, from where he stood.

"She's acting freaking crazy, and you're telling _me_ how to act?! I saved her ass!" Xavier retorted.

Dwayne gave the loudest shout Xavier had ever heard from him. "XAVIER, LET HER GO, RIGHT NOW!" Xavier, in his surprise at hearing Dwayne's voice so loud, regained some of his composure.

"She's been through enough. Don't forget what it was you saved her from." Roman said.

Xavier blinked as he remembered the scene of the four armed Xeno grabbing at her, pinning her down against the ground. And then he made the connection between what had happened and what was happening now.

Xavier released her, and Ajoa fell away from him. She knelt on the ground, clutching her own hands within her arm-pits. She cried for real, now. With whole tears running down her cheeks and dripping off her face onto the floor.

Xavier still didn't feel bad for her. He really didn't. But he knew that he was in the wrong.

He was very much in the wrong.

A beeping noise could be heard, which gave Xavier an opening to shift attention away from himself. "Your Comm. is receiving.", he said towards Terrence.

Terrence blinked, looking uncomfortable from being addressed by the man that had made such an outburst. As if he was the next target for Xavier's unfurled rage. Nevertheless, Terrence answered the text message. "Umm ... okay they're saying that they have an Interceptor team about 30 minutes out, and they're asking how many hostile indigens there are at our location."

"What?" Xavier blinked, surprised and feeling more frustrated by that answer. There was a combat-ready Interceptor unit stationed at the nearest Base Camp, four kilometers away. An easy 10 minute drive _at most_. How the heck were they justifying a 30 minute dispatch?

"30 minutes is way to long." Xavier said.

"Uhh ... well." Terrence said, hesitating to say anything that might provoke Xavier.

"Just give me that." Xavier said, taking Terrence's Comm. Device to see what HQ had to say for himself. The texts read:

 **D1-1078THUN** : Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. This is BLADE element at Biahno Water Station to any friendly callsigns. Code: X-Ray at Biahno Water Station. Biahno Water Station is in need of assistance. Communications are disrupted. We have text only. Does anyone read this transmision.

 **BCSAYRAM:** Biahno Water Station. This is Sayram Lake Base Camp. We read you. We are transferring your message out to BLADE Tower. Standby. Out.

 **HQ-EDC:** Biahno Station. This is HQ. We have received your distress call. Do you read.

 **D1-1078THUN:** HQ. Biahno Station reads you loud and clear. We request fire support at our location. We are engaged with X-Ray here in the station. Station has sustained civilian casualties. We need help ASAP. Over.

 **HQ-EDC** : Biahno Station. We copy your request for fire-support and are looking into dispatch for any available units in your area. We need a casualty report and an ID on BLADE element on station. Do you have any way to communicate with us through audio broadcast. Over.

 **D1-1078THUN:** HQ. Negative. Stations main antennae is running but the computers and adjacent servers have sustained damage. True casualty number is unknown and only 1 survivor found. BLADE element consist of a single team acting freelance for NLA research team attached to Biahno water station. We have 1 wounded but in stable condition. Over.

 **HQ-EDC** : Biahno Station. We have D2 operatives en route to your position. ETA should be less than half an hour. Can you give us a number on how many X-Ray you have at the station. Over.

 **HQ-EDC:** Biahno Station. Do you read.

 **HQ-EDC:** Biahno Station. Your transmission feed read as live. Do you copy.

 **HQ-EDC:** Biahno Station come back.

"Half an hour my ass ...", Xavier said, under his breath. He typed.

HQ. This is team leader D1-590XMOR. Exact number of hostiles on site is unknown but is presumed to be low or moderate. Interrogative. Can the response team arrive to assist any faster. We have one civilian and one WIA in need of an extract. Over.

He waited a few seconds, and on Terrence's Comm. Device he got the response back from HQ.

 **HQ-EDC:** Biahno Station. The nearest quick response team in your region was already on an active assignment to the North. They have been informed of your request for fire support and they are turning around right now. Will tell them to double time it. Stand by.

"Dammit.", Xavier said, while handing Terrence's effects back.

"Top brass blow us off?" Dwayne asked.

"Apparently the only Q.R.F. in the neighborhood had something more important to do than to wait around for us to call for help." Xavier explained.

"This is kind of a bad time to bring this up, but I did NOT bring the ammo for an op. like this.", Dwayne said, showing everyone the one sub-machine gun he had that still had bullets in it. He pulled out the weapon's magazine to get a better feel for it. "Judging by the weight, this baby's not even running on half-a-tank."

"You're not even running on half-a-tank." Xavier said, reminding him of the leg that he no longer had. Xavier could see pieces of torn metal sticking out where his knee used to be.

"I can still bite you.", he retorted.

"Technically, you're just as dis-armed - or legged if you prefer - Moran. You don't have a weapon on you." Roman added.

It was true. His knife was right next to his grenade, and in the blast it would have shattered into a billion bit, mixing in with the shrapnel that had encased the explosive. And he had no idea what the fate of his dear Blast Cannon was. All Xavier could remember was tossing it aside before getting thwacked by the Xeno. Either the blast had sent it flying away, or it had caused it to break apart as well. Either it was destroyed, or Xavier would have to go back outside alone to look around for it in an attempt to retrieve it. Something he didn't feel like doing.

Xavier looked back at Roman, and responded in turn. "Well fine then, how are you doing in the ammo department?"

Roman still had his Assault Rifle, which unfortunately chambered a specific sized bullet that wouldn't be compatible with SMGs or most pistols. Like Dwayne, Roman plucked out his weapon's magazine to count the number of bullets he still had on hand.

"I have 14 rounds set. With two fully loaded spare mags and one carrying 13, that counts at 87 rounds on me." Roman blinked. "88, my mistake. I nearly forgot to include the one I have chambered in."

"God dammit. We were not equipped for this at all." Xavier said, feeling more and more frustrated by the second. He ran his hand through his hair to keep himself calmed down. "We walked into a snake pit wearing nothing but freaking bikinis." He looked over at Terrence, who seemed to be regaining his old anxiety. "What about you? You got anything in that pack of yours. A nuke, maybe?"

"Uhh .."

"Terrence! We don't have time to deal with another one of your panic attacks, again, now answer the god damned question!" Terrence said, rwady to shout again.

Dwayne spoke. "Brother, you need to calm the hell down. I'm talking to you Xavier. Look at me." He had a small sense of sternness directed outward, which served to capture Xavier's attention. Once he was looking at Dwayne's face he continued by saying. "We are in the shitter right now, alright? I will not deny that. Pretty much everyone here is messed up one way or another, me included, help is not around the corner like we thought, and we don't have a lot more fights left before we go down for the count, and all in all we pretty much have no idea what the hell is going on around or what's going to happen next."

Dwayne pointed a finger at Xavier.

"This is no-man's land. You're the Pathfinder. You want to lead us? Then you need to start acting like one. 'Cause, I swear to God, I _will_ get up on my one good foot and knock you down so hard you'd think we'd crashed landed again." Dwayne put his hand back down, but he never took his eyes off of Xavier. Not even to blink.

"You get me?", he said, leaving the Ultimatum hanging in the air.

An hour might have passed in the second of silence that stank the room with anticipation.

And stank is the word that should be used to describe the situation. Because that anticipation lead up to disappointment in all parties present.

Maybe if Dwayne had decided to get all preachy on him 5 hours ago, before all hell broke loose on his day, Xavier may have been touched. He would have gone into all this calm and stoic, and he would have felt call to protect his friends and make sure that they were all right in all things. He would've turned to Terrence and apologized, realizing that like him, he was simply caught off guard by this series of events. He would've encouraged him and told him that he had already proven that he could handle it, and that he had nothing to worry about.

But right then and there, Xavier was just plain pissed.

"I don't need to get lectured by the guy whose life I've saved." Xavier said. "So far you've been the weakest link on this team."

Dwayne looked as if he might have said something, but he the shock he must have felt from getting called out stopped his voice.

"I've saved your life once or twice today, myself, Moran." Roman said, with anger in his voice.

"Shut up, Roman." Xavier, not even caring to look at the Curator. "If you had been here with us, Dwayne might still be in fighting shape."

"I knew that the I.D. card we needed was with one of the Cantors outside. I was right, and now we can access the security systems." Roman said, his voice rising in volume.

"YOU COULD HAVE TOLD US, YOU IDIOT!", Xavier shouted. "YOU COULD'VE WAITED FOR US TO GET THE ANTENNAE UP AND RUNNING, AND WE COULD'VE GOTTEN THE CARD TOGETHER! AS A TEAM!"

If Roman had a response to that, he didn't say it out loud.

Xavier lowered his voice. "So far, I have been the only one on this team that has managed to get us going anywhere. I am the one that has his mind focused on keeping us alive, and I am the one that's going to get us the hell out of here. If anyone thinks they can do things here better than I can, then please, step up!"

Xavier lifted his forearms up away from his sides exposing himself, and looked around the room at its other occupants. "Anyone? Come on _anyone?_ "

No one responded. But there was a voice. It was Ajoa. Still crying.

"Please just stop this.", she had her ears covered. "You'll make them come back."

The Xenos, Xavier thought. 'Cantors' is what Roman had called them. They were still here in the facility with them. And because of them they were all in danger. They needed to die, was all Xavier wanted to think of.

Ajoa continued. "I just can't think straight. I don't want to freak out but I'm jst really confused and I need to know what the heck is going on. Can we please just get back to getting the security footage, please? I need to know what happened to my friends."

"They're dead." Xavier said, not wishing to go down this conversation again.

"You don't ...", she trailed off, but then continued with a gasp. "I need to be sure."

 _You won't see anything nice on those cameras._

In spite of that thought, Xavier also wanted the security footage.

"Give me your sidearm." Xavier said, looking at Terrence.

Terrenced paused, for a moment not doing anything. But the hesitation ended with him pulling his pistol out of its holster and holding out the butt end towards Xavier for him to take. Xavier did take it, and let the magizine inside the handle slide out for him to check the ammo.

The magazine was full. It seemed that Terrence had changed it out after the stint inside the electrical maintenance room. Xavier would have suggested using Terrence's ammunition to top off Dwayne's guns, but the cartridge was once again distinct from the type of bullets Dwayne's guns use.

Xavier was armed once again. Now it was time to act.

"Okay, from this point on we need to stick together at all times. Until the QRF comes to yank us out of here we do NOT leave this room, and nothing that isn't human enters. Now let's access security so we can get some eyes on the rest of the building. I'm getting tired of working blind here." Xavier said.

He walked over to the main console with Terrence's pistol in his right hand, and Ian Parker's I.D. Card in his left.

Ajoa followed Xavier over.

"You can get to the camera data using Ian's card.", she said.

At the terminal, there was another scanner just like the one at the main entrance. Xavier waved the card in front of the small plate until the computer gave a sweet _beep_ , indicating that it had checked and cleared it. The words ACCESS GRANTED flashed across one of the screens, and a new list of functions and applications opened up for Xavier to play with.

"Cameras should be right there, under the 'Security' tab.", Ajoa said pointing it out on the screen.

 _I don't need you back seat driving_ , Xavier thought.

Not that it even really mattered of course. Xavier filed through the Security features that were provided to them, and eventually clicked on the tab that said 'Archived Memory' only for the universe to once again slap them all in the face for the thousandth time that day.

DATA CORRUPTED. CAUSE UNKOWN.

Ajoa mouthed hung opened.

Xavier lost it again. "GOD FREAKING DAMMIT! CAN'T SOMETHING GO RIGHT FOR ONCE?!"

"Stop!" Ajoa said, becoming frightened by the shouting of the angry Pathfinder. "Please no more shouting! I can't take much more of any of this, and I don't want any more of those things to come back."

Xavier breathed, in an attempt to calm himself. A feeling of shame was beginning to lurch forward into his consciousness. He was starting to crack. Over nothing. The way he was acting was unacceptable. He needed to get ahead of himself, or he was going to break.

"I'm sorry ...", Xavier said.

Ajoa, looked at Xavier in surprise, but still had a sense of apprehension about her.

Xavier, re-emphasized. "I'm sorry for how I'm acting. And I'm so sorry for saying those horrible things to you." He looked at Ajoa, trying to keep as plain a face as he could manage. He wasn't used to feeling this way, especially not in front of other people, but he felt a strong need to make things right at that moment.

A shine in Ajoa's eyes began to appear, but she blinked and it was gone.

"Me too.", she said. "I just want to get back to New LA. Please help me get back."

"I will." Xavier affirmed. He then looked to his three comrades and added, "we will."

Dwayne, layed there on the ground looking up at Xavier with a look on his face that Xavier hadn't ever seen before. But after a moment of hesitation Dwayne nodded to show that he understood Xavier's meaning. There would be words to say afterwords, but for now it seemed, the two friends were still that.

The look on Roman's face didn't seem to be one of forgiveness, but he didn't anything to contradict Xavier's attempt at appeasement.

Terrence walked up to the terminal where Xavier and Ajoa stood.

"Here", he said. He clicked through a few functions and a new set of words appeared on the screen.

EXTRACTING RECOVERABLE DATA.

PLEASE WAIT ...

A loading bar appeared as well, and the computer showed that it was quickly and thoroughly checking through every file in the system's memory to see what it could still use. Terrence spoke further on this topic. "That should get us at least a little something. It's nearly impossible for every file in a computer system to get damaged, so all we need if for the system to assemble every file of memory that we can still access. It'll take a minute or two though. "

"Thank you ...", Ajoa said.

"I'm sorry.", Xavier said to him as well.

"It's fine.", Terrence said, cutting Xavier off. "I get it now."

"Okay ...", is all Xavier had to say. Then he started to think.

"Is there any way lock the doors leading into here?", he asked.

Ajoa sniffed. "Yes." Then she clicked on a button herself, and with that a clacking noise could be heard coming from the two main entrances to the control room, and the computer showed the both the Control Room they were in as well as the lounge adjacent to it as being sealed off from the rest of the facility.

"Well we have that at least." Xavier said. "What about the water reservoir? Can you access that?"

"Why?", she asked.

"We saw a lot of those things swimming around in the pool. I'm thinking, maybe we get them out."

"You want to drain the reservoir?"

"I want to boil it."

Ajoa blinked.

Xavier explained. "I know how those filters work. And I'm pretty sure it's possible to rev them up so hard, that they just heat up everything around it. If we can turn up the heat out there, it can at the very least chase them off into the main lake. And at the most it can fry them in their own pot."

Ajoa, didn't seem comfortable with that. "It could also wreck the fillters, and even many of the components used in the reservoir."

"I won't force you." Xavier said.

Ajoa sighed, before she accessed the Reservoirs filtration unit. "Good thing I already turned the alarms off." An electric diagram showing blue machines stationed around eachother appeared on the screen, and after a moment of fiddling around with the controls Ajoa had each of those machines showing up as a dark red. "It's done. Now what?"

"Now we wait." Xavier said.


End file.
